Xenoblade Chronicles: The 5 Sins of Grief
by Blackhawks8
Summary: The heroes of different universes come together for the first time. It all seems like a dream come true. That is until they were cursed with the 5 Griefs. On top of that, 10 of their enemies are revived with the power of their Commandments. They must do whatever it takes to break their curse. [SPOILERS: If you haven't beaten XC1, XCX or XC2, don't read] Based off of 7 Deadly Sins.
1. Before Worlds Collide

**Welcome to my first Xenoblade Chronicles story! This is going to be a crossover between 1, X, and 2. Unfortunately, I can do only crossover of two but I'll incorporate Xenoblade Chronicles X in this story.** **As mentioned in the synopsis, the setting takes place after the endings of all the Xenoblade games, so SPOILERS are IMMINENT. I suggest you _DO_ _ _NOT READ_ _this if you do not want to be spoiled for any of the three games mentioned.**

 **This story is based off of and inspired by The Seven Deadly Sins/ Nanatsu no Taizai. The concept of the sins is not present in the story but are replaced with the 5 Stages of Grief. For those who follow the Seven Deadly Sins/ Nanatsu no Taizai, the Ten Commandments will be present in this story. 10 characters will be like the Ten Commandments in a way where they have powers like the Ten Commandments in the Seven Deadly Sins. This is more of a reference to it rather than a my own creation thing. I do not own any of the Xenoblade Chronicles franchise nor the Seven Deadly Sins/ Nanatsu no Taizai. All credits go to the respective creators.**

 **Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy my little story project. Read and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1: Before Worlds Collide

Multiple universes exist in this world. None of them acknowledge that they exist among one another. They do not recognize it. Is it possible for such an idea to have representatives of each universe meet together for the first time a reality? It seemed unlikely but possible.

It all changed one day.

After defeating the god in their homeland, Shulk and his friends had lived in the new world that he had created. Many lifeforms were living peacefully with one another as wished by the divine entity, Meyneth, and former leader of Mechonis, Egil. Colony 9 had been changed drastically after Shulk slew the god. A vast wave of water across one side of the Colony, which was not seen previously, was used by many residents for their own purposes. Just across the waters was the fallen titan known as the Bionis. No longer shall the Homs, Nopon, High Entia, and the Machina live on the body of a Titan.

Many months had passed since the new world was created. Colony 9 did appear to be similar to how it was back on Bionis. The difference was that they had an ocean rather than a lake that surrounded them. A young, blonde Homs had woken up from his usual sleep, ready to take on another day of his new peaceful life. His home was a newly built house just adjacent to the man he looked up to, the one who formerly wielded the legendary blade before his right arm became paralyzed.

Once he made and ate breakfast, Shulk cleaned up and wore his normal attire before exiting out of his house. Although, there was a knock heard from his door as he came downstairs.

"I'm coming," he said in his British accent. Shulk tightened his shoes before opening the door to see who was visiting him. Standing before him was a taller, muscular figure with auburn hair. "Reyn! How's it going?"

"I'm doing great, Shulk," Reyn said as he wrapped around his best friend's head with his left arm before using his free fist to rub his hair. "I was stopping by to see if you want to do something."

"I wish I could," Shulk laughed before speaking. Reyn released his embrace, and the heir to the Monado had tidied up his hair. "I promised to spend the day with Fiora."

"Man," Reyn felt a bit sad to hear that Shulk was already occupied for today. However, he was not upset because he acknowledged his childhood friends' relationship. "That's a bummer."

"Sorry about that Reyn," Shulk expressed a bit of guilt inside of him.

"Ever since Zanza was slain, you and Fiora have been closer than ever," Reyn remarked, causing Shulk to remember what had happened between him and her.

The two began dating after creating the new world they currently live in. While Fiora's older brother was overjoyed to hear the news, Shulk was glad that he got to spend more time with his new girlfriend. Although this happened, it caused Shulk to spend less time with his other childhood friend.

"I'm sorry again, Reyn," Shulk looked up to his best friend's brown eyes. "We got to hang out at least this week."

"Yeah, man," the buff man excitedly punched his left palm with his right fist. "We should explore outside of Colony 9, just you and me."

"Definitely," they both then saw a young woman with short blonde hair who gave a bright smile to her dear friend and boyfriend. "Reyn, I'll see you around."

"Don't forget about our adventure this week."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Take care, Shulk and Fiora," Reyn departed, likely heading to the Defense Force to conduct his daily routines with Vangarre, the old square-tache.

"Heya, Shulk," Fiora walked up to her man. Shulk then planted a short kiss on her cheek. "Is Reyn okay? He didn't seem to be happy."

"You probably know why."

"Us?"

"Yeah."

"I feel bad that you're drawing him away because of me," she turned her away, feeling guilty of damaging the bond between her two childhood friends.

"Don't be," Shulk placed two of his fingers on Fiora's chin so that they are locking eyes on each other. "He understands but is bummed out that I don't get to spend time with him as much as we used to do. However, we're going on a little exploration outside of Colony 9 this week."

"Aw, that's sweet," a smile crept upon Fiora's lips. "I want you to keep up with Reyn. Don't take him off because of me. We all had known each other for our entire lives. There's a reason why you two have been friends for so long."

"I will. Thank you, Fiora," Shulk hugged his girlfriend, thanking her for being so considerate and refusing to tear down Shulk's friendship with Reyn because of them dating. "Anyways, what do you want to do?"

"Let's go to Outlook Park. I want to feel the breeze."

"Then we shall go there."

Upon reaching Outlook Park, nothing seemed to be different in terms of appearance compared to the Outlook Park that Shulk and Fiora used to go to back on Bionis. There was a bench that they used to sit together. Actually, there were multiple benches surrounding each tree. Three trees were present around the park. The one closest to the edge, facing the Colony itself, was Shulk and Fiora's special spot. While no one was present, something was off. Reaching the park, the couple noticed a strange crystal light at the center of the three trees.

"Shulk," Fiora said, expressing the same curiosity and concern as her boyfriend had. "What is that?"

"I'm not sure," he preemptively held his lady's left hand. "But let's be careful. We can't be sure that it's even safe."

"Right."

"Although," Shulk's inquisitiveness drew him closer to the odd light. "It's quite interesting to see that this particular light appears in Colony 9. It's not like any other light known here."

As he walked towards the light, Shulk tried to scan and analyze the properties of the unknown object. Fiora joined and attempted to assist Shulk. After several minutes of observation, they came away with no results.

"I can't tell anything from it," Fiora stated after assessing the light.

"Neither can I," Shulk was on the same boat as her. He then realized that gazing at it was not going to lead anywhere, so he slowly moved his hand towards the light. "The only thing we can know for sure is to-"

The light then captured Shulk and Fiora whose bodies slowly dissipated. They were gone from Colony 9, and no one knew where they have gone off to.

* * *

In another world, a large planet was filled with myriad kinds of species roaming around as natural as it could get. This particular planet also contained various regions within. Those regions comprised of a dry area with a lack of vegetation, a white sandy terrain with exotic spherical trees, and a volcanic region. This was the planet Mira. At the prime center of this new planet that humans call home, there lies a humongous Habitat Unit of the Ark Ship that was surrounded by a blissful greenery scene known as Primordia. Inside was a civilization that bred human life. That civilization was the city known as New Los Angeles. Apart from humans, other lifeforms that were indigenous or foreign to Mira had adjusted their lives in the city such as Ma-non, Nopon, and Wrothian. It was to ensure that they would survive longer.

After the Ganglion was defeated along with the discovery of the Lifehold Core, the humans who were currently alive in the form of mimeosomes had continued on with their lives, holding the painful memories of the deaths of their loved ones. New Los Angeles had remained the same for the most part. Several renovations after the invasion by the Ganglion were made in order. Other than that, everything was serene.

Then one day, a Nopon trader came to visit New Los Angeles through the East Gate. Because he had credentials and a purpose to visit the city, the guards allowed him to enter. The Nopon trader walked until he reached the BLADE Concourse area.

Meanwhile, inside the BLADE Barracks, it was home to a woman with a tan complexion and a bangless, shoulder-length white hair. She wore a red Grenada Galactic Light Wear armor as her main attire for missions and defending the city. Her day had not started yet as she was making breakfast with a young teenage girl with a short black hair cut in chin-length and bangs covering her forehead.

"What's on our agenda today, Elma?" Lin inquired to her supervisor as she finished the last bite of her meal. "Are we going to rescue some BLADEs from some dangerous indigenous lifeforms? Maybe even finding more lifeforms who can live here in New Los Angeles."

"I cannot say for sure," Elma responded calmly as she pondered about their upcoming missions for today. "Sylvalum and Cauldros have yet to be fully discovered and analyzed through the FrontierNav. We may have to recruit several experienced BLADEs to assist us with that."

"It was rough when we went there last time," the young girl recalled memories of fighting the Wrothians and invading the Ganglion's main stronghold.

"While the main threat has been eliminated, it does not mean we're safe from anything else. Many indigenous life and tyrants live among those regions, so we must be cautious of our surroundings."

"Yeah."

A sound of the double doors opened, prompting both of them to turn their heads to the direction of that sound. The person came upstairs to see Elma and Lin. That individual was a large muscular man with short blonde hair along with his thick mustache.

"Commander," Elma acknowledged Vandham's title who then nodded. "What brings you here today?"

"Normally, I'd come here to brief you two for a mission," he began but his tone revealed otherwise. "However, this is not particularly a mission I'm assigning. I'm here because of you, Elma."

"Me?" The tan woman asked to confirm that Vandham needed her. "What do you need me for, Commander?"

"Well," Vandham felt like it was strange for him to deliver such a unusual message when he could just take her and walk out instead. "There is a Nopon trader out at BLADE Concourse who wishes to meet with you."

"That's a rare occasion."

"I wonder why a Nopon trader would want to meet with you Elma," Lin commented as she tilted her head to muse over it. "At least he's not rations like Tatsu."

"I suppose so," Elma crossed her arms and looked down to think about the situation, making it harder than it should be. "Why do I get this feeling that something strange might happen?"

"Regardless," Vandham spoke up with his arms crossed. "This Nopon trader seems to be rather excited to meet you."

"Ooh, looks like you got a fan there, Elma?" Lin teased her leader.

"It's possible," Elma chuckled before standing up to exit the barracks. "Let's meet with this Nopon trader and see what he or she wants."

All three BLADE members walked out of the barracks. As soon as they exited out, a small yellow Nopon stood in front of them, startling Lin and Vandham. Elma was unfazed and believed that the creature in front of her was the one who wanted to meet with her.

"I assume you are the Nopon who wished to see me," Elma spoke to the little one in a calm tone.

"Yes, friend know Nopon trader want to see Elma," the Nopon trader responded in such deceptive yet somewhat deep tone.

"He certainly is a cute Nopon," Lin remarked with an adorable smile.

"This Nopon is more than cute. I am a Nopon Archsage who sell all kinds of merchandise," the Nopon placed its arms on the side to express confidence.

"Nopon… Archsage?" Lin expressed bewilderment and tilted her head while crossing her arms. "Are you supposed to be some wise sage?"

"It sure does have some nice ring behind it," Elma remarked, quite impressed to hear such a title.

"Enough with this chitchat," Vandham said, feeling a bit impatient that the conversation was off topic. "What reason do you want to meet with Elma in particular today?"

"I have a special simulator for all people here to improve fighting skills," the Nopon's advertisement caught the attention of Vandham mostly even though Elma and Lin were interested.

"A special simulator?" Elma tilting her head showed curiosity for the Nopon trader's deal. "I would like to know more about this simulator. How does it improve a BLADE's fighting capabilities?"

"Simulator has a real-life battlefield," the trader moved his arms to further emphasize his points. "Friends fight real enemies like Ganglion and Prones to test abilities. The simulator also has real maps of many places so accurate and perfect for training."

"Well, you certainly have piqued my interest."

"I do admit that some of our BLADEs are not the best warriors in NLA," Vandhman regretfully spoke aloud with his eyes closed. "Maybe this training simulator could toughen up some sissies here."

"You didn't have to say something that cruel when people are walking around the city who could hear us," Lin reprimanded the Commander for saying such a thing about BLADEs when it was true to an extent.

"I understand your frustration Lin," Elma said before focusing her attention to the Nopon trader. "While the simulator is very promising, I'm sure we must pay you at a high price for such a deal."

"No worry about price friend," the Nopon hopped, reacting to the fact that Elma was willing to pay so much for a simulator. "Because of friend's good deeds, the price of the simulator will cost 250,000 credits."

"Just 250,000 credits?!" Lin responded in such shock to hear such leniency of paying a simulator that cheap compared to the Heavy Skells. "Are you sure this isn't some scam?"

"Why would I deceive friend Elma?" The Nopon trader refuted by asking a question. He felt offended that Lin would challenge him because his deal was suspicious. "This is deal that friend should not dismiss. Friend Elma will be first to test simulator to see its money worth."

"Well, if you're certain about it," Lin said to Elma.

"It cannot hurt to try something new," the white-haired woman kept her optimism. "It's a deal, Nopon trader."

"Excellent, friend!" The Nopon was jumping in glee that he was able to sell the simulator to Elma. "I'm excited to see friend try the new simulator."

"I know a suitable place to go to initiate this simulator."

"Excellent, friend."

Elma, Lin, Vandham, and the Nopon Archsage head to the maintenance center to test out the battle simulator. Elma did not realize that the battle simulator was going to take her to some region not in Mira. It was going to take time for everything to properly work.

* * *

Months have passed after Malos was defeated at the hands of a young salvager who became the Driver of the Aegis. The bodies of Titans had merged together to form one large land for all civilizations to peacefully live together. As they flew on the back of Azurda, a salvager named Rex held a Core Crystal shaping like a cross. Thinking he had lost his dear Blade after sacrificing herself to save Alrest, the emerald crystal resonated once again. Soon he saw two forms of one Aegis: Pyra and Mythra appear before him. He could not help but express happiness to see that his Blade came back to him.

It was the anniversary of Rex's mentor/father figure's death. Even though it was not a year yet, Rex wanted to visit his grave at Olethro Ruins again to tell him the stories about what happened after Vandham's passing. The salvager lived his life on Azurda's back like the old times while within the area of the Argentum Trade Guild. While the home was small, Rex lived his life normally while salvaging to make money. Meanwhile, Pyra and Mythra lived at the new Leftheria. While the scenery remained unchanged, it was considered new after all the Titans merged together. Pyra assisted Corinne with cooking while Mythra mostly taught young Leftherians swordplay. It took some time to adjust life there but the Aegis was not going to give up that easily.

Rex had completed another round of salvaging with his silver cylinder. He managed to grab two treasure chests and carried them up with him. After throwing them onto Gramp's back, Rex took off his salvaging helmet to breathe some fresh air again.

"Ah," he sighed happily. "I miss salvaging when it's just salvaging."

"You've been salvaging exponentially more than you used to do before meeting with the Aegis," the old Titan said as his head turned to face his son.

"Well, the difference is that I'm salvaging because I love it and make a profit," the boy said as he opened the first chest. "When I was trying to take Pyra to Elysium, it felt more like a job to salvage to fulfill requests for people. Don't me wrong, Gramps. I like helping people get things by salvaging, but I don't want something that I love to be unsatisfying after a while."

"Oh, I understand, Rex," Gramps smiled feeling sympathy for Rex. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Just some gold, dark gray springs, and fancy bolts," the Aegis's Driver seemed disappointed to see the same results again from salvaging. "Looks like I've gotten pretty much everything here."

"Considering the fact that you've salvaged so much, it makes sense."

"Yeah."

Rex opened the second chest, only to find more common mechanical items and gold. Realizing that he had been salvaging since the early morning, Rex decided to take a break and buy something to eat. He purchased two Tasty Kordeth Samod, two Lightly Fried Rice, and two drinks for him and Gramps to eat together. Rex brought Gramps his meal for today who graciously thanked him for being so kind. As they ate together, Gramps noticed today was a particular day just months after a certain father figure had been killed by Malos.

"Rex," the Titan initiated the conversation. "It's been months ever since Vandham's death."

"It has, hasn't it?" He rhetorically replied, thinking about the times he shared with the Urayan. Suppressing the memory of him putting himself at death to save Rex and the Aegis was difficult to do. "I wish he was alive to see how much I've grown."

"Rex, I know that Vandham would be very proud of how far you've come. You fought your own war. That would suffice how much he is proud of you."

"Thanks, Gramps," because the conversation pertained to Vandham, Rex wanted to visit him and invite certain people to join along. "Gramps?"

"What is it, Rex?"

"Let's get Nia, Tora, Poppi, Mòrag, Brighid, Zeke, Pandoria, Pyra, and Mythra to visit Vandham."

"I'm certain they won't mind if we visit their lands to visit a fallen soldier."

"It's been awhile since I've seen them."

"This is also a good opportunity to catch up with your friends."

First, Rex and Gramps traveled to Torigoth in Gormott. The salvager walked into the civilization. He knew the first place he would go to: Tora's house. At the intersection of the market, Rex took a left turn and followed a path that led to the secret entrance of the Nopon's abode. When he opened the door, the Nopon knew at that moment someone he knew came to see him.

"Ah," Tora hopped in glee to see his friend again. "Rex-Rex come to visit Tora?!"

"It's good to see you, Tora," Rex said with a smile before seeing Poppi Alpha next to Tora. "Hello, Poppi. You look the same as ever."

"Greetings, Master Rex," the artificial Blade responded with a small tone of content from Poppi. "Poppi is happy to see Master Rex visit Masterpon and Poppi."

"Well, you've certainly shown up without telling us," a female Gormotti with a Welsh-accent walked from the side and spoke in a sarcastic tone. Behind her was a tiger-like creature who was her Blade.

"Nia! Dromarch!" Rex walked up to them and gave them a hug. "I'm glad you guys are here as well. I was also looking for you two."

"Did you really now?"

"Certainly, my lady and I have arrived at Tora's abode at the right time today. Greetings, Master Rex," Dromarch bowed his head to remark his greetings.

"What Rex-Rex doing here in Torigoth?" Tora asked since the Aegis's Driver unexpectedly arrived in Gormott.

"Well," he started before pulling back. "I wanted to visit Vandham's grave since it's been exactly 6 months since he died. Before I go to Uraya, I was planning on asking you guys, Mòrag, Zeke, Pyra and Mythra to join along, including Brighid and Pandoria."

"Tora would delightfully join with Rex-Rex. Tora hasn't seen Rex-Rex in so long, so Tora want to know what Rex-Rex do now."

"Well, same for me as well," Nia agreed before crossing her arms. "You and I got some catching up to do."

"Are we leaving soon Master Rex?" Dromarch asked the salvager.

"It's not soon, rather it is now," he sheepishly responded.

"Don't be embarrassed by your demand," the tiger continued. "We are not occupied with anything, so we will happily come along with you."

"Awesome," Rex smiled. "Let's get the rest before heading to Uraya."

Rex and his friends arrived at Mor Ardain where the Titan's life was near its end. Although the Titans merged together, not many know if the Mor Ardain Titan will sink. Little did Rex know, his luck was getting better since the two people he wanted to visit happen to be at the capital together. He arrived at the Anangham #2 Dock as Gramps stayed behind. Nia messaged the Special Inquisitor that they will arrive at the dock so they can expect their arrival. The salvager was glad to see that more people were at places he wanted to visit.

"Mòrag! Zeke! Brighid! Pandoria!" Rex shouted as he walked towards him contently. "It's been so long since I've seen you guys!"

"It's gracious of you to visit Mor Ardain for some time now," Mòrag calmly replied as she stood erect. "There's much to discuss our lives."

"Well if it's isn't my little chum," the Tantalese Prince excitedly said as he petted Rex's hair. "How has it been, chum?"

"I've been well," the salvager replied. "Just salvaging to find treasure and money for everyone at Fonsett."

"Such a pure heart," Zeke responded, prompting a sheepish chuckle from Rex. "Anyways, what's your reason for coming to Mor Ardain?"

"Well, I was going to visit Vandham's grave in Uraya but I wanted to invite you guys to come along."

"You're a generous and kind individual, Rex," the Jewel of the Empire added.

"I suppose we can all accompany you to visit Vandham's grave," the Special Inquisitor answered, prompting Rex to smile.

"As long as I get to see my chum, it's fine with the Zekenator," the Tantalese Prince said as Pandoria mimicked the expressions her prince was making. "Hold on, what about Pyra and Mythra? Aren't they coming?"

"They are," Rex knew that he was not going to leave behind the Aegis. "We're getting them after stopping by here."

"Sounds good with me."

"Let us proceed then," Mòrag said as she walked to Azurda to prepare for their ride to Leftheria and then Uraya.

Almost all of the team had reunited with the exception of the Aegis. On their way to Uraya, everyone had exchanged what life had been like after defeating Malos. To generalize, life had been well. Tora and Nia continued life in Gormott. Mòrag resumed her duties to relay messages to other regions to unite and promote safety amongst them. Zeke was also on the same page with the Special Inquisitor since he was the most qualified among all other Tantalese. Once they arrived in Leftheria, Rex had met with Pyra and Mythra once again.

"Rex!" Pyra exclaimed as she gave her Driver a hug after not seeing each other for some time.

"At least you're fine, Rex," Mythra casually said but also was glad to see her Driver for the first time in some time. She then looked to see that he brought guests. "What do you know? You brought the entire team back together again."

"So you two are living here all this time?" Nia inquired, a bit surprised to see Pyra and Mythra especially here in Fonsett.

"Yes," Pyra answered. "I've been helping with Corinne with cooking and feeding the village."

"I've been teaching these little kids about defending themselves and sharing stories of the Aegis's Driver," Mythra added before turning her head away. "Say what you will about me, but I'm enjoying it."

"Surely you two have been adjusting to life in Fonsett Village well," Mòrag commented after assessing their explanations.

"Yes, we have," the red Blade confirmed with a smile. "Everything is peaceful and safe, just how I like it."

"As long as Malos and Amalthus stay dead," the blonde continued. "Everyone will live happily."

"We witnessed their deaths," Brighid stated. "I'm sure they will never return to Alrest to devastate our world again."

"Well we aren't here to talk about that," Nia cut to the chase and put Rex on the spotlight. "Rex wants to say something to you two."

"What is on your mind, Rex?" Pyra was curious to know what Rex's current thoughts were.

"I wanted to visit Vandham's grave in Uraya," Rex began, prompting a sad expression from the Aegis. "Before we go, I invited everyone to come along. Pyra, Mythra, care to join along?"

"Of course," Pyra instantly knew what to answer the minute Rex asked her to tag along. "I want to spend some time with you."

"Same here," Mythra added. "Tell me some cool things you've done after defeating Malos."

"I got some stories to tell."

The entire team had finally reassembled. They were on course to Uraya to visit Vandham's grave. Gramps flew above Uraya and descended onto the Holy Gate of Fontana which led to Olethro Ruins. That was the drop off for the heroes. Rex then told Gramps that they would meet him at the Fonsa Myma Port, which Azurda was fine with. Gramps would get some rest time while he was occupied there. As they walked up the many stairs, Zeke commented to Rex that Gramps should have flown to the Olethro Playhouse instead of the Holy Gate of Fontana. Rex agreed with Zeke's point but regardless they were almost there.

After walking all the steps, they've only had the passageway to walk though before Vandham's grave. However, something else had caught their eyes. The hallway connecting between the playhouse and the ruins, a strange crystal light was floating on their left side.

"Meh-meh?" Tora asked in a confused tone as he was taken back by the peculiar light.

"Masterpon, is something wrong?" Poppi responded to Tora.

"Tora see unfamiliar object, right over there," he pointed at the floating peculiar light.

"D'you think that's the mysterious light Zuo mentioned?" Rex asked the Nopon. Before arriving at the Olethro Playhouse, Rex made a quick stop at the Garfont Village to see Zuo. He explained to Rex about a strange light he encountered and warned the team to be cautious.

"It wasn't here before, that's for sure," Pyra added after remembering their last encounter at the Olethro Playhouse.

"No, I imagine I'd have remembered," Nia wiped her nose with her right arm before placing both arms on her sides.

"But what is it? Tora-senses are tingling," Tora's comment caused Zeke to tilt his head in confusion.

"If you're so curious, Tora, why don't you go check it out?" The Gormotti girl asked the Nopon.

"Meh-meh?!" Masterpon was shocked to hear such a suggestion by Nia. "N-no, Tora believe discretion is better part of valor. Curiosity kills more Nopon than Aligo. Maybe Rex-Rex check?"

"Me again? Blah…" Rex knew that Tora would direct the suggestion to him, which irritated him a bit. "Though I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious myself. Just like salvaging, if you don't take chances, you'll never make it to the good stuff!"

The entire team surrounded the strange light to observe Rex.

"Right on, Rex!" Nia was also curious to see what abilities the strange light had. "Go do your thing."

"On it!" He gladly responded.

"Just please don't do anything reckless," Pyra said as she was concerned for her Driver's well-being.

"No worries!" Rex made sure to be careful so he would not be injured if anything were to happen to him. He then proceeded to touch the peculiar crystal light.

The next thing everyone knew, their entire physical bodies began dissipating. They were panicking since they did not know what was happening to them or how to stop it. Then, their bodies disappeared from the ruins without a trace.

They were no longer in Alrest anymore.

This was the beginning of a new adventure.


	2. Monado Meet the Aegis

**I bring you another chapter. I feel strange about this chapter because half of it is the dialogue between Rex and Shulk when they meet for the first time. And the challenge battle felt like it was not my best work, so feel free to say what should I work on in the reviews. Read and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 2: Monado meet the Aegis

There lay an isolated, mysterious structure resembling a coliseum and a ritual scene. No one knew where this particular structure originated or how it even existed in the first place. However, one thing was for certain: the people who arrive are there for a reason. It was fate that the heroes from different worlds would come together.

A blue, circular portal had opened on one side of the strange area. Who was going to arrive first in this unusual place?

"Whoa!" Screamed a young salvager as he was running and stumbling into the peculiar new area he and his friends were in. They had no idea where they were. Tora laid on his back as Poppi stared at her Masterpon. Nia turned back to keep on a lookout for anything. Mòrag and Zeke along with their blades turned their heads sideways to figure out if they were in some area from an urban legend. "Where are we?"

"Very strange and mysterious, is what!" Tora commented after getting up from lying down on his back.

"This… may not even be Alrest," Pyra made an interesting conclusion which caught the attention of everyone on the team.

"Well," Nia added after taking in the revelation that she and the team were not at home at all. "We'd better be on our guard."

Meanwhile, another blue portal appeared across from where Rex and the others stood. It did not seem they noticed since it was quite far from them. Two individuals came out of the portal the same way as the previous people did: running and stumbling into this strange place.

"Wh-whoa!"

The young male Homs looked around the area above him while maintaining an unconcerned expression. "Where are we? This place-"

"Shulk," a female Homs walked up to him in a more worried tone. "Maybe we should turn back? We don't even have our weapons…"

Looking at their own person, both Shulk and Fiora did not have their weapons prepared since they planned on spending the day together. The next thing they knew, two particular weapons appeared in their hands. Fiora had her twin Butterfly Daggers, which she was surprised to see since it had been some time that she utilized that particular weapon. She gasped in surprise as a result. As for Shulk, he could not believe what he had witnessed. A red, future-like blade had returned to his hands. He thought that this weapon was sacrificed to create the new world he wanted. Shulk positioned the legendary blade of Bionis upward before it emitted a long blue beam from within.

"The… Monado?" He merely said in shock as he could never believe that the Monado would ever return to him.

"And my weapons too!" Fiora held her daggers upright as well, but she was content that her old weapons appeared to be in good conditions.

"I don't know what's going on, but I feel a little safer now," his girlfriend smiled and nodded to agree with his statement. Shulk reciprocated before turning around to see the unusual place he and Fiora were in. "It's not the Bionis, but it's not the Mechonis either. We're in unknown territory for sure."

"Hey, Shulk!" Fiora said after noticing a group of unknown lifeforms across from where they stood. "Someone's over there!"

Shulk then gazed at the group before deciding to say something. "Should… we talk to them?"

"It wouldn't hurt to try," the couple placed their weapons on their usual spots whenever they possessed a weapon.

While Rex and the others tried to figure where they were, Poppi sensed foreign presence approaching them. She turned to the see where the presence came from before speaking up. "Masterpon, humanoid lifeforms."

The message was heard from Rex and the others who then saw two humans walking towards them. Everyone tried to get a closer look at whoever was approaching them.

"Their clothing style look funny," Tora inputted with an amused expression on his face.

"What should we do?" Rex asked Pyra and his fellow friends.

"They look friendly enough," Pyra responded after getting a good look at the two individuals.

"But it's just so strange," Nia said in a bewildered tone rather than feeling concerned. "Running into people in a place like this."

"Err," Rex groaned as he, too, felt the same as Nia did. "I'm not sure how to handle this."

Unbeknownst to them, Shulk and Fiora also were engaging in a conversation about Rex and the others.

"Looks like we've a got a problem," Shulk said aloud, getting the group to hear his voice.

"It's good to help each other out," Fiora said as she and her boyfriend finally stood in front of Rex and his group. "Tell us what's wrong."

Rex stammered a bit as he was a bit taken aback by Fiora's words. He was not anticipating the two Homs to be kind and respectful to them. Eventually, he was able to recollect himself before allowing himself to explain themselves what happened. "We popped up in this weird place. That's what's wrong."

"There is something strange about it, for sure," Shulk acquiesced as he placed his right fist under his chin to muse over the situation while resting his left hand on his right bicep.

"Hey, Shulk," Fiora responded in a serene tone. "Looks like we're in the same boat."

"Yeah, you're right. We all came here unwillingly. I guess we are in the same predicament."

"So _you_ don't know what's going on either?" Nia asked as she was also surprised to hear that Shulk and Fiora were in the same shoes as they were.

"That's right," Shulk confirmed. "I've no idea where this is, or why we're here."

"Hmm," Rex crossed his arms together while closing his eyes to understand that they have no idea what was going on. "We're all clueless, then. Well, why don't we team up? We can check this place out together."

"Sounds good," Shulk happily replied. "Actually, I was about to say that myself."

"My name is Rex."

"And I'm Pyra."

"Call me Nia," she closed her arms together. "Old furbag here is Dromarch."

"Tora is Tora," he raised his right wing-like feather.

"Please call Poppi, Poppi."

"My name is Mòrag and the one behind me is Brighid."

"Pleased to meet you," Brighid introduced herself.

"I am Zeke," he closed his arms together as well. "And the fine lady behind me is Pandoria."

"What's up y'all?!" Pandoira excitedly greeted Shulk and Fiora.

"Haha!" The seer chuckled. "You're a lively bunch. I'm Shulk."

"And I'm Fiora."

"Good to meet you," Shulk extended his right hand out to Rex and began walking closer to him.

"Ah," Rex then proceeded to walk towards Shulk as well. He grabbed Shulk's hand and held it firmly. "Likewise."

"Awesome. I have this great feeling that everything's going to work out fine."

* * *

Shulk and Fiora had now joined Rex's team. The world between Bionis and Alrest had now come together for the first time. While the moment of the crossover was the first step towards a dream, they all decided to scope around the unknown territory. After scanning around the area, nothing useful came into their hands. As a result, it was best for them to cease the continuation of finding anything helpful in the strange area. Rex and the others were curious as to where Shulk and Fiora came from. The two Homs gladly told them what life was like back in the new Bionis. The citizens from Alrest were amazed at how the Homs's world differed so much from Alrest. Despite wanting to visit their world to learn more, they, unfortunately, were stuck in this place. Further search would be futile as there was nothing left to explore.

"Shulk, Fiora," Rex initiated the conversation since there was nothing else to do. "Have you guys been here before?"

"No, never," Shulk easily responded; otherwise he would have known this place and explain Rex and the others about it. "Fiora and I were just walking when suddenly we saw this odd light. It turned out to be a portal."

"And, Shulk being Shulk," Fiora teased her boyfriend who had a slight smirk on his face. "He just had to stick his nose in and see what it was all about,"

"Yes, sorry about that."

"What happened to us was fairly similar," the Special Inquisitor commented.

"Tora also think like Shulk!" Tora contently added, wanting to compare himself to the Heir to the Monado. "Not care if curiosity killed Nopon, cannot stop self from touching things.

"Wasn't it our chum who did the deed, though?" Zeke made a rebuttal to Poppi's Driver.

"…Fact is irrelevant," Tora scoffed.

"So the portal you came through is over there somewhere?" Shulk inquired to confirm his hypothesis. He was unable to see where his allies came from. The portal Rex and the others came from was behind them with the appearance resembling the portal they saw at Olethro Ruins.

"Yeah," Nia confirmed. "You came through a different one, then?"

"That's right. It's just over there."

There was no portal that Shulk aforementioned.

"I… can't see anything," Pyra bent down trying to concentrate on locating the portal.

"Same here," the Gormotti girl confirmed.

"I suspected as much," the Homs sounded like he knew they were going to say that. "Each of us can only see the portal that we ourselves passed through. We can't travel to your world, Rex, and you can't travel to ours."

"So we can only meet here?" Rex asked to summarize Shulk's points.

"It seems that way."

"It decided then?" Poppi wondered. "We spend nice time chatting here?"

"Ooh, shall I prepare some snacks?" Pyra became exuberant to form new friendships with people from another world.

"Oh, yes please, Pyra!" Fiora's excitement was tantamount to the Aegis. She wanted to taste of what Pyra's cooking was like.

"That not such good idea," said a strange individual who could not be seen but only heard.

"Who's there?!" Zeke shouted.

"The voice came from above," Nia said as they all faced upwards to possibly locate the origin of the voice.

"Over here," the same voice was heard again before everyone turned back to see a small Nopon in front of them.

"When did he…" Fiora wondered because the Nopon was not there seconds ago.

"Is no big deal," the Nopon said with such confidence. "Not for Nopon Archsage."

"Who are you?" Shulk asked.

"Nopon Archsage is great Nopon who, through endless training in many times and places, become sagest of sages," he explained.

"Even though Archsage look even more littlepon than Tora?" The Gormotti Nopon pointed out in a slightly condescending way.

"Such rudepon," the Archsage was taken aback by Tora's comments. "Despite appearance, Nopon Archsage is hundred million times age of Tora."

"A hundred million?" Rex skeptically asked. "I'm not buying it."

"Friends believe or not, it not matter. But truth is truth, and truth is that Nopon Archsage make this place."

"You made this place?" Shulk was amazed to hear that the little Nopon was able to construct such a building in an unknown area.

"Indeedy!"

"But whatever for?" Fiora inquired.

"To pose, and witness overcoming of combat challenges of unimaginable and frankly unbelievable difficulty."

"He means to test our mettle, then?" Mòrag answered in a form of a question.

"Strange hobby for a Nopon to have," Nia stated aloud since she never heard a Nopon have such a hobby.

"Yea," Shulk's girlfriend agreed yet did not like the sound of that. "That doesn't sound very pleasant at all."

"Mehh?" The Archsage was surprised and disappointed to hear feedback from the people he selected to come to this strange place. "That very upsetting to hear."

"As long as can get reward, Tora have no problem with challenging challenge," he expressed confidence as he was prepared to take on anything in his path.

"But of course!" The Archsage suddenly felt better about himself. "If friends can overcome challenges, Nopon Archsage will fork over treats commensurate with results."

"Ohh, ohh, can Tora win rare tropical edition of Tasty Sausage?"

"That was actually not very tasty, so Nopon Archsage liquidate stock."

"Mehh?" Tora was astounded to even hear that such an item existed. "Tora come up with thing on spur of moment. Is really real product?!"

"May not have that particular item, but still many other rare stuffs to give."

After hearing about the challenges and the rewards that come with it, the entire team was intrigued by it.

"Sounds interesting, eh, Morag?" Zeke asked his teammate and fellow diplomat.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious," she replied without a trace of deception in her tone.

"Well then, it sounds like we're up to the challenge," Rex happily said as he was quite excited to get back into fighting after some time.

"Shulk, Fiora," the Aegis called to the Homs. "What do you think?"

"If it was Reyn, I'd probably say no way, but…" Fiora responded after contemplating for a quick moment. "Eh, I'm in! You can't really get to know someone without having a few skirmishes together, right?"

"If Fiora's feeling it, I'm in too," Shulk said after hearing his girlfriend wanting to participate in some challenges.

"Super-duper!" Tora joyously cheered.

"But the way you fight is different from how we do it in our world," the seer pointed out after hearing about Rex's world and their way of combat. "Why don't we take on a support role?"

"Good point," Fiora replied. "It looks like we can summon our weapons at will. I guess that would make us like your world's Blades."

"Wow, that's gotta be a nice skill to have," Rex was amazed to hear Shulk and Fiora being able to do that.

"Going into battle with Fiora sounds like it'd be a trip," Nia said since she was excited to fight alongside with her.

"Look forward to it!" Fiora also felt the same.

"Well then!" The Archsage was pleased to hear that the heroes had decided to participate in his challenges. "When friends feel ready, please give Nopon Archsage shout."

"I think we all are ready," Rex said.

"Mehh?" The little Nopon was a bit surprised to hear that they were willing to go through his challenges immediately. "If friends ready, then Nopon Archsage prepare challenges."

"So how do these challenges work exactly?" Shulk inquired since he was a bit confused about the challenges. It was likely due to the fact that they did not get much information about it.

"Nopon Archsage present few challenges to friends," the Archsage responded to Shulk's question. "Friends participate in these challenges. If pass, you get reward. If fail, you try again until you pass."

"Sounds simple enough," Fiora replied as she was getting excited to try out these challenges.

"Here are challenges friends can do," the Nopon displayed a holographic screen with a list of challenges that the team could try out. "Choose challenge and Nopon Archsage will transport friends to arena."

"Which challenge should we do?" Rex asked to his teammates.

"We don't want to compete in a challenge that's too difficult for us," the Special Inquisitor informed her group as she made the first input.

"Good point, Mòrag," Nia agreed as she looked at the several challenges in front of the screen.

"How about Pest Control?" Pyra suggested. "It doesn't seem to be too bad from the sound of it."

"A little warm-up for the Zekenator," the Tantalese prince boasted as he smirked and placed his hand on his chin. "I say we can do that first."

"Then it's settled," Rex said to the Nopon Archsage. "It looks like we'll be doing Pest Control."

"Welcome to stage of destiny," the Archsage said before giggling at himself.

* * *

Soon everyone else dissipated from where they stood. Rex, Shulk, and the others felt this experience before like when they were teleported to this unusual land. What mattered to them was that this challenge was not going to be just challenging but exciting as well.

The entire team was standing on plows of dirt on the Titan of Gormott. They were at the farm just adjacent to the relay base stationed by the Ardainian forces. It was Kloom Farm. In front of them was a wave of Bezille Caterpiles but were not posing threats to the heroes at first.

"Caterpiles," Rex shouted as he was prepared to unsheathe the Aegis sword.

"Wait, Rex," Pyra warned her Driver to not rush head-in. "They aren't threatening to us. Something doesn't seem right."

"This might be part of the challenge that the Nopon Archsage has given us," Mòrag replied after quickly gazing at the enemies.

"It could be," Shulk believed the Special Inquisitor's words.

"This challenge will have five waves of enemies," the voice of the Nopon Archsage was heard over a non-existent plane.

"Is that the Nopon Archsage?" Rex asked.

"These enemies will attack once I initiate challenge," the Archsage warned before preparing to start the challenge. "The challenge battle…. Begins!"

Because of the sudden commencement of the challenge, everyone quickly drew their weapons before attacking. Rex had the Aegis blade while Pyra was supporting him, Nia had Dromarch as her Blade with her Twin Rings in hand, Tora began with Poppi Alpha as his Blade along with his Drill Shield, Mòrag had her Jewel of the Empire as her starting Blade, and lastly, Zeke always had Pandoria as his Blade. Meanwhile, Shulk and Fiora had a unique case. While the Drivers could call the Homs as their blades, the couple by themselves, without a Driver, would temporarily act on their own like Blade Eaters. Shulk unsheathed the Monado while Fiora held her daggers.

There was going to be a myriad of Caterpiles so everyone had a chance to fight. They did not know if the challenge was going to be difficult or simple. Regardless, they were going to give it their all and fight until the very end.

Rex swung twice before thrusting the blade towards his target. Nia wielded her twin rings and struck numerous times on the Caterpile she was fighting. Mòrag brought out her Whipswords wielded by Brighid who was supporting her lady. Zeke wielded Pandoria's unique weapon, Big Bang Edge and was striking Caterpiles as if they posed no threat to him. Poppi handed Tora her Drill Shield, mostly to defend but could attack sometimes. Shulk and Fiora were ready to defend themselves with the Monado and the Butterfly Daggers, respectively.

The first wave had ended. It was not much since it was only a handful of Capterpiles. The second wave had much more Bezille Caterpiles compared to the first wave.

Rex fired a small hook-like object coming from his left wrist as he pointed it towards his opponent. Once he grabbed the enemy, Rex swung at a diagonal angle to one of the Caterpiles before Nia ran to the monster's side and executed her Gemini Loop art to deal more damage to the enemy. On the opposite side of the Gormotti, Tora came in to assist with his friends.

"Spinning cutter!" Tora held the Drill Shield on his side and spun around multiple times to hit the Caterpile. It was enough for the foe to be killed.

Meanwhile, Mòrag swung with her Whipswords multiple times along with the Tantalese prince. Soon they were ready to beat down some monsters. They teamed up to take down the three Caterpiles that were in front of them.

"Blaze!" She swiped her weapon across herself, striking all three enemies. Because of the power and aggression of her attack, all Caterpiles that were struck targeted Mòrag. She got her opponents where she wanted them to be. "Hellfire!"

The three Caterpiles were hit when Mòrag raised her Whipswords and horizontally lashed at them. Once her weapons made contact, the Caterpiles could not act for a moment because they were inflicted a status called Break.

"Big Boost!"

"Topple Lock!"

Tora's first hit of his Drill Shield and Rex's Anchor Shot managed to inflict Topple on two of the three enemies. However, Rex repeated the same move again to topple last remaining Caterpile.

"Stratospheric Thunder!" Zeke struck his Big Bang Edge in a vertical motion while jumping simultaneously. His weapon and his distance with the monsters were close enough to launch all Caterpiles upwards. Then, he was ready to attack again. Zeke raised his blade upward, which produced powerful electricity, before placing it on his shoulder blades. He proceeded to jump, twirl, and finish with a mighty slash. "Bringer of Chaos! Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash Max!"

His series of attacks had killed all three of the Caterpiles. The second wave had ended after all of the heroes cruised through it without any issues.

"That's an interesting move there, Zeke," Shulk said to the Tantalese as the blonde man was intrigued by the name of the prince's attack.

"I like its uniqueness," Fiora chimed in. "It's not boring, to say the least."

"Thunderbolt Zeke is the most unique of this entire world, nothing more," he shouted with such pride.

Shulk and Fiora simply chuckled by Zeke's humor before preparing for the next wave.

Wave 3 commenced.

To their disappointment, it was more Bezille Caterpilles. The number of monsters was equivalent to the number of Drivers and Blades present. It was tougher but manageable for the heroes' capabilities.

"Rex!" Shulk shouted to his ally.

"What's up?" The salvager turned his head to see the seer.

"Want to try out the Monado?"

"Sure, let me give it a shot. Pyra, you can sit back. I'll try out this Monado."

"No worries, Rex," Pyra said who did not mind fighting on her own.

Shulk threw his Monado at Rex who then was able to wield the weapon with no problem, surprising the Homs. Then a blue ether line connected between the two, prompting him to be amused by it.

"What's this blue bind?" Shulk asked.

"It's our affinity between Driver and Blade," Rex responded. "No time to answer about it. We got a challenge to win."

"Right behind you, Rex," the Colony 9 resident smiled before channeling his energy to his Driver for support.

"Nia!" Fiora called to the Gormotti. "What do you say we team up?"

"I was hoping you say that," Nia contently replied. "Dromarch, heal us when needed."

"As you wish, my Lady," the tiger blade bowed before Fiora threw her knives to Nia who was excited to experience the new use of weapons. Nia and Fiora had the blue channel between them.

Tora and Mòrag kept many Caterpiles busy by being the tanks while the others had the opportunity to strike. Rex then ran behind one of the Caterpiles and struck one with the Monado several times.

"Rex," the male Homs said to his Driver. "Know any Monado Arts?"

"Strangely, yes," the salvager responded. "I can't explain it, but this channel of energy immediately teaches me the arts I'm capable of doing."

"Interesting," Shulk was fascinated by Rex's explanation, so he trusted his ally to do his best since it was his world they were fighting in.

"Monado..." Rex horizontally had thrust before flicking it upward to finish the attack. "Burst!"

"Awesome!" Shulk cheered as Rex successfully used the Monado.

"I like your attitude," the salvager complimented before performing another art. Rex swung the Monado twice, both in opposite directions. "Monado Storm!"

One of the Caterpiles had died from Rex's attack. Meanwhile, Nia and Fiora had some synergy for them already.

"Air Slash!" Nia shouted as she struck with the knives four times with each hit becoming stronger than it appeared to be. The Art caused one of the targeted monsters to be inflicted with Break. Nia continued on with another Art to further increase damage output. "Whirling Edge!"

What surprised Nia was that she felt a sudden urge to continuously repeat the same Art, so she did until her targeted enemy was defeated. "Whoa, that's something. I've never felt this urge to attack continuously this much."

"Keep it up, Nia!" Fiora cheered who kept channeling her energy to her Driver.

Nia repeated Whirling Edge until another Caterpile was fallen.

The third wave had come to an end. It was not as difficult compared to the second wave since it was the same enemy just more in numbers. As they were waiting for the next set of enemies, the team had collected these orange cubical objects while they were fighting the Bezille Caterpiles for the first three waves.

"What are these cubes even for?" Shulk inquired while also directing the question to his group of allies.

"Purpose unknown," Poppi answered the question for the Homs. "However, unknown objects may have to do with rewards that Nopon Archsage mentioned."

"You may be right, Poppi," her Masterpon replied praising his Blade for being very analytical and intelligent.

"Masterpon, more enemies approaching."

The set of monsters were not Bezille Caterpiles this time. Instead, they were Farm Riiks, a four-legged creature that were much stronger and larger than the previous monsters. Because they were new enemies, the heroes were exuberant to have a different monster to fight against. Although they were only three, it looked like it was going to be a quick and easy win.

All three of the Riiks performed their Art, Delve. They all stood on their legs and scratched the heroes with their front paws. Rex, Mòrag, and Tora received damage from the attacks, but it was not severe.

Zeke positioned his sword horizontally and placed his free hand on the blade. The Big Bang Edge started producing lightning, prompting the Tantalese prince to strike. "Dynamic Spark Sword!" Once he delivered the final vertical slash, Zeke was ready to unleash more power from Pandoria's weapon. He raised the blade above him where it began charging up large amounts of power. "Overload Thunder Beeeaaaaam!"

"Judgement!" Mòrag lashed at one of the Riiks while evading their Delve attack. While her evasion was helping avoid the enemy attacks, Tora came in to deal more Sdamage.

"Steady Drill!" The Nopon unleashed a skyward drill attack. After delivering the attack, Tora continued to press on. "Spinning Cutter!"

"Blaze!" Mòrag swept her Whipswords across herself against her target.

Next, Rex came from behind and front-flipped while swinging the Aegis sword to attack. Shulk ended up fighting on his own and fought against one of the untargeted Riiks. Because he was on his own, he was able to utilize his own Arts from his own world.

"Sword Bash!" Rex had thrust his blade on his target's back, causing massive damage. He then threw the sword at his Blade. "Pyra hit it now!"

"Prominence Revolt!" She unleashed pillars of fire that erupted beneath all enemies. The power of flames had scorched all Riiks and they were all defeated.

The fourth wave had ended. The challenge was not as difficult as they had hoped, but it was only the beginning. The heroes were not disappointed at the challenge. It was more of getting the rhythm of how the challenges would operate. Right now, they had one more wave to go through before completing the challenge.

Wave 5 was the most different from the others. It was due to that it was only one monster, a large creature as a matter of fact. The enemy was a much larger Riik than the previous ones were. In fact, it was similar to one of the unique types of that particular species, which meant that it was going to be the toughest wave. This monster was Vattaud Riik.

"Okay, time to take you down," Rex unsheathed the Monado as he decided to have Shulk as his Blade. Meanwhile, Nia kept Fiora as her current Blade in action.

The Riik scratched the entire party with its front paws. Tora, Mòrag, and Zeke pressed on by aggressively attacking the giant monster while Rex and Nia attacked without being targeted. The salvager maintained his position with his Monado Arts while the Gormotti tried out different Arts bestowed to her.

Then the Special Inquisitor inflicted Break on the giant, which Rex then proceeded to fire a hook from his arm to Topple. As the others continued to attack while the Riik was unable to, Zeke executed his Stratospheric Thunder Art to launch the monster upward. While the Riik was in that state, Rex threw the Monado to Shulk who then was prepared to perform his attack. The circle within the Monado had a symbol with green-colored ether emitting from it. He leaned the weapon behind him before jumping to slash the enemy. "No escape… Monado Purge!"

Then Nia gave Fiora her daggers so she could use her attack. This time, Nia saved up enough power to unleash a stronger Talent Art than the first level. Fiora hopped and spun around while striking the Riik with her daggers. "Power Smash!"

The powers from Shulk and Fiora had angered the Riik. The monster then flipped itself upside down and slammed the ground on its back. The impact of the attack pushed the entire team back. While the enemy was on its back, Zeke launched the beast with his Stratospheric Thunder again. Given the opportunity presented at them, everyone threw out their attacks while the Riik was unable to retaliate. Rex delivered one final strike of Monado Burst, which ended up killing the beast.

* * *

The challenge was over. They had won without encountering any problems that came up to him. Afterward, the heroes returned to the unusual area known as the Land of Challenge. Upon returning, three treasure chests were presented to them by the Nopon Archsage.

"Are these for us?" Rex asked the Nopon Archsage.

"Of course it for you," he was surprised to hear that they were not expecting some sort of reward. "You collect Ether Cubes for treasure. Those orange cubical thingies. Gather enough and friends can get maximum of three treasures."

"Looks like we're lucky for now," Shulk commented as the heroes opened the three chests in front of them.

"Do harder challenges to get better rewards," the little Nopon added. "That's why you see only Noponstone and nothing else."

"I don't think I've ever seen this type of stone before."

"It is like currency."

"We don't follow."

"Noponstones are primary currency to trade for rare items. Collect a lot so friends can get better prizes."

"That's not how I remember the deal," Nia quietly said feeling like she for sure knew that the deal was not how she remembered it.

"If friends want to do more challenges, then let Nopon Archsage know."

"I would," Rex added before realizing that he still needed to attend to Vandham's grave. "I have to return to Alrest. I have to pay a visit for someone."

"Nopon Archsage understand," he was not upset since he was about to reveal something else. "Portal will always be open to friends. If friends want to visit, you can come anytime and play more challenges."

"Well, it was great meeting you all today," Shulk said his last remarks. "I had a great time getting to know you all."

"Same here," Fiora chimed in. "Since we're able to visit here again, we should definitely come back again soon."

"Definitely!" Rex cheered. "We're glad to meet you two, Shulk and Fiora. I just wish we could visit your world."

"We might, but for now," Shulk held his girlfriend's hand. "Fiora and I have to spend our time together back home."

"Farewell."

"We'll see you guys soon."

The heroes went back to their worlds in order to continue living on their own normal lives. The Nopon Archsage was by himself in the Land of Challenge. His happy expression turned ominous as he laughed sinisterly.

"Friends think this is all fun and games… but certain friends must be punished for their sins."


	3. Meeting Up Again

**Next chapter is here. Read and enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 3: Meeting Up Again

It had been several days since the heroes from Alrest and Bionis arrived at the mysterious place called the Land of Challenge. Although their time there was ephemeral, the group had a great time getting to know different people from another world. Despite arriving in the Land of Challenge, the heroes only did one challenge to just get a good feel of what the Nopon Archsage's tasks were made of. They all wanted to meet again in the same place soon. Their mission was to convince the Archsage to allow both Shulk and Rex along with his friends to travel to each other's universe.

It was early morning for the young Homs as like other days had been. Shulk rose up from his bed and went to the kitchen to make some breakfast. He decided on a regular sandwich with tea as his drink. A smile beamed on his face because today was the day he promised to travel outside his home with his best friend. As a result of spending less time with him than Fiora, the seer knew that he was never going to turn back his word. Once he finished his breakfast, Shulk cleaned up and wore his normal attire. He walked out of his door before taking a fresh breath of air. Right as he opened his door, his larger friend was already walking towards him.

"Reyn!" Shulk happily called out to his childhood friend. "You're up quite early."

"You already know why I'm up early," he said while grinning at the thought of hanging out with his buddy for the first time in a while.

"For occasions," the blonde stated without any complaints from him. "I can tell you're excited to hang out today."

"Why wouldn't I be happy to hang out with my best friend?" He crossed his arms while maintaining a smile on his face. "I haven't hung out with you in so long that I feel like we're losing our friendship because of it."

"To be honest," the seer admitted while scratching the back of his head. "I had that feeling as well."

Reyn nodded. "Shulk, sometimes you have something on your mind, but you never tell me about it."

"Sometimes," Shulk sighed. "I'm afraid I'll hurt someone I care about if I tell them something they don't like to hear."

His friend shook his head. "That's not right, Shulk. Anytime you got a problem, say something. We'll work it out together, just like today."

"Reyn," Shulk could not help but grin at Reyn's way of words. "I'm lucky to have a best friend who can talk to me about anything."

"That's what friends are for man," the auburn-haired Homs wrapped his right arm around Shulk's neck and nudged his blonde hair with his other hand. "Come on, we got the full day ahead of us."

"Right," Shulk nodded after Reyn stopped locking his neck. "Where do you want to go?"

"Let's check up on Sharla in Colony 6," that was his first thought for today's plan. "I bet the reconstruction has been going well although I haven't been there for quite some time."

"It's been awhile since I've seen her there."

"Let's get moving."

* * *

After Shulk got his Junk Sword, Reyn had his gunlance on his back in case of emergencies. The seer was surprised that the Monado was not in his hands anymore once he returned home with Fiora. The thought had been on the back of his head ever since he returned from that mysterious place. It still was something he tried to figure out because there had to be some explanation as to why the Monado reappeared. They then exited the Commercial District before walking up the hill that was ahead of them. Several Little Skeeters flew around the area before the incline but were not posing any threat to the two Homs. They casually walked passed them to avoid any unintentional threat. Walking up the steep hill to reach the Tephra Cave Entrance was a bit difficult since it required more physical exertion from Shulk and Reyn. Once they reached the entrance, both Homs entered the Tephra Cave. Arachnos, Bunnits, Brogs, and Vangs were present during their cautious walkthrough of the cave.

"Colonel still does training here in Tephra Cave?" Shulk wondered as he and Reyn had walked past the warehouses near Mag Mell Ruins.

"Yep, he still does," Reyn confirmed. "Old Square-tache likes to shape up his Defense Force even if everything is at peace with no gods and all."

"Looks like some things never change," the seer chuckled since he was going to continue to see the frequent outbursts from the Colonel.

Shulk and Reyn managed to bypass the Arachno Queen's Nest and took the path to the cave exit. They reached a small grassy plateau that was a medium between the cave and the great plateau ahead of them. In front of the new yet unchanged Kneecap Hill, a vast ocean could be seen from where they were. The fallen Bionis was within their sight. It felt surreal that their new land used to be on the leg of the fallen titan. Shulk and Reyn had to take at the moment before going to Colony 6.

"The last time we saw this view was when we saw the Mechonis," Reyn said as he took a deep breath by the sight of the new world he lived in.

"Yeah," Shulk nodded. "Now things are better for us."

"Can't argue with that," the auburn-haired Homs pumped his fists together. "I'm excited to see Sharla and the new Colony 6."

"Same here," the blonde Homs agreed before walking up to the vines on a wall and climbing their way there.

They made their way through the great land of Gaur Plains. Nothing appeared to be different other than being surrounded by the ocean. Natural creatures that habit the area were present but were minding their own businesses. Shulk and Reyn traveled through Villiera Hill, across Raguel Lake, and through Maguel Road before reaching the south side of Kasharpa Falls. As they crossed the bridge, they went through a cave passage that led them to a narrow road. As they continued to follow the narrow pathway, they came across a dome that inhabited residents of different races living in harmony. To their surprise, Colony 6 looked like it was a completely new place compared to when it was its original structure. Walking inside, Shulk and Reyn saw many shelters and markets in front of them along with a clear pathway to walk through. To their far right side, they saw children playing in the gardens. To their left side, there was a large building that appeared to be the main headquarters. They knew that that was their destination. Once they got closer to that area, the Colony 9 residents ran across two individuals: a young boy and his older sister.

"Well, look who showed up," the woman said slightly feigning surprise as she smiled at the two men who arrived at their headquarters.

"Sharla!" Shulk greeted as they embraced a light hug. "It's been awhile since I've seen you."

"It's good to see you again, Shulk," the medic said before turning to Reyn. Her smile was brighter than when she saw the blonde. "Hello there, Reyn."

"Hey, Sharla," the muscular Homs said with a little sheepishness in his tone. "How'd ya doing?"

"I'm doing alright," Sharla said feeling slightly warmer than before.

"Shulk, Reyn," her brother walked up to greet the Colony 9 residents. He was joyous to see the two again. "I'm happy to see you two."

"Hey, Juju," Shulk greeted.

"What's good little man?" Reyn petted Juju's brown hair. "You've gotten a little bigger the last time I saw you."

"I've grown a bit," he said. "You two look the same. Anyways, how'd you guys like Colony 6?"

"Well, we just got here," the blonde stated before expressing amazement by its progress. "Colony 6 looks spectacular."

"It looks like it's a brand new colony," Reyn added.

"I appreciate your words," the medic giggled before continuing the conversation. "Anyways, we got some catching up to do. Why don't we get some tea and sit at the gardens?"

"There's definitely some catching up to do," Shulk's friend said acknowledging that they needed to update each other on their lives.

Juju was then left in charge in taking care of further reconstruction of Colony 6. Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla purchased some tea at the market just adjacent to the headquarters. The medic paid for the drinks since it was her way of treating friends after not seeing them for some time. Afterward, they sat at a bench in the grassy area of the colony where the fountain was behind them. It was a serene environment for Homs to relax and alleviate their minds.

Shulk had told Sharla about his relationship with Fiora. She knew that they would be together eventually ever since she learned about Fiora. The medic expressed her happiness for the couple and wished them the best for their new relationship. Reyn, without his best friend's knowledge, had secretly been messaging Sharla by mail for a year. Once his best friend revelaed his secret, the blonde was surprised to hear about it, but was content to hear that his best friend and a former teammate were getting along well. While Sharla liked the thought of communicating with Reyn, the auburn-haired male felt a bit different. He had these hidden feelings that he wished he could express. However, he kept them to himself because of the passing of her former lover, Gadolt. Shulk was unsure about the status of their relationship, but he was not going to speculate anything. Sharla then told them how Colony 6 was progressing. She mentioned that the colony was close to being complete. One of the few projects they were behind schedule was the Ether Mines. Due to its destruction with the encounter with Xord, it was a struggle to renovate the area back its normal state. There was some progress done, but for the safety of their residents, the project had been on hold until people were ready and willing to assist in a dangerous job.

* * *

It had been two hours since they began catching up on their lives. To them, it felt like nothing. Time surely went by when one is having fun. Simple talking had excited Shulk, Reyn, and Sharla because they were friends who traveled together through the good and harsh times. They all got along because they trust and care for each other.

Shulk had something on his mind. Because that thought was becoming vivid, he was slowly zoning out of Reyn and Sharla's conversation. His comrades noticed his odd behavior and decided to act upon it.

"Shulk, what's the matter?" Reyn said to his best friend. "You look like you were zoning out there."

"It's alright," the blonde downplayed his feelings. "Nothing is wrong."

Reyn sighed in disappointment. "Shulk, you're doing it again."

"Reyn," Shulk argued. "I told you, I'm fine."

"Shulk," his friend said assertively. "It's okay if there's something on your mind. Like I said before if you don't like something or even have something troubling you, you better tell us."

The seer conceded, knowing that he was not going to circumvent talking about what was on his mind lately. Shulk sighed and decided to tell Reyn and Sharla about it. "What I'm about to tell you guys, you'll probably won't believe me."

"Is it something bad?" The medic inquired who was a little worried about Shulk.

"Let me explain," the Monado wielder said before organizing his thoughts. "About a week ago, Fiora and I were spending time together one day. We decided to go to Outlook Park to relax for a bit. When we arrived there, we saw this strange light."

"Strange light?" Reyn repeated in the form of a question. "What was it?"

"We both tried to check what it was. It turned out to be a portal."

"A portal? That doesn't sound realistic to me," Sharla skeptically said before thinking about it more. "Although, you were with Fiora, so I can't say for sure that this is true."

"I expected as much that you won't believe me," Shulk responded while maintaining his expression. "There's more to it."

"Tell me more."

"Fiora and I ended up in an unusual place. It wasn't even a secret area in any area of the Bionis. As it turned out, we were in some other world. To make it more interesting, we were not the only ones there."

"Really?" Reyn was becoming more curious to hear his friend's story. "Who did you meet?"

"Quite the bunch," Shulk contently responded since he believed that his friends were believing his story. "We met Rex, Pyra, Nia, Dromarch, Tora, Poppi, Morag, Brighid, Zeke, and Pandoria."

"What on Bionis? That's so many. Where did they come from?"

"They came from Alrest if I'm not mistaken. It's a world where they live on Titans like how we used to live on the Bionis. However, they live on multiple Titans rather than just two."

Reyn and Sharla, rather than being skeptical, were actually intrigued by Shulk's odd experience of being teleported to the Land of Challenge. In fact, it piqued their interest to the point where they wanted to visit the unusual place for themselves.

"I want to visit this place," Reyn said after pumping his fists together. "It'd be cool to meet that Rex friend of yours."

"Because Reyn is thinking the same as I do," Sharla added while smiling. "I want to personally see this new place for myself."

"You guys should definitely visit," the blonde was glad to hear that his friends believed his story rather than teasing him for it. "If you guys have the time, let me know and I'll take you guys there to meet some new friends."

"I wish we could go there right now," the medic had a disappointing look on her face. "But I have to focus on reconstructing my home."

"No worries, Sharla," the auburn-haired male said to support her. "We'll be able to go once you're comfortable doing so."

"That's very kind of you, Reyn," Sharla grinned warmly.

"What do you mean by 'we' Reyn?" The seer was confused by his friend's use of that term. Because of his question, Reyn and Sharla warmed up and sheepishly chuckled.

"I was referring to all three of us," the muscular Homs lied to save his tracks. "Besides, it would be cool if we went together."

"Of course," the Monado wielder contently responded. Sharla sighed in relief without Shulk noticing her. "Well then, I think we all caught up with our lives."

"Oh, yeah," Reyn cheered before wrapping his left arm around Shulk's neck. "I'm just happy to hang out with ya in such a long time, Shulk."

"Yeah," Shulk chuckled as he was fine with Reyn teasing him for a bit.

"Shulk, Reyn," Sharla called to her friends. "I know you guys want to hang out, but do you two want to help me out in reconstructing Colony 6?"

"I don't mind at all as long as Reyn is cool with it."

"Helping out others is always something nice to do," Reyn replied before rolling his right arm.

"Awesome," the medic contently cheered. "Let's get to work then."

The three Homs spend most of their day renovating Colony 6 back to its former glory. Shulk, after spending the day with his best friend, planned on asking Fiora to go back to the Land of Challenge either later today or the next day. When he went back to Colony 9, they went at night since they were eager to meet the people from Alrest again.

* * *

In the world of Alrest, Rex's team paid a visit to Vandham's grave. The salvager explained why there was a delay for them to arrive to the deceased Urayan's tombstone. Rex revealed that his team had discovered a strange portal that led to another unknown territory. The group told Vandham the two individuals, Shulk and Fiora, whom they met there. They described to them as kind and friendly Homs who were also in the same predicament as they were. The Special Inquisitor mentioned of a Nopon who called himself the Nopon Archsage who was responsible for it. While they did not actually know how Vandham's soul felt about it, they were certain that he would like to meet them if he was alive.

After paying a visit to the Urayan who was considered a father to Rex, the group decided to stick together for an extended amount of time. They headed towards Mor Ardain, so Mòrag and Zeke can resume handling the situation with other countries. As the two diplomats were occupied, the rest of the team had the time to roam Alba Cavanich or outside its perimeters. They stayed at the inn for several days as the meeting was making progress.

"Are they still going on at that meeting?" Rex asked his friends as they walked out of the inn to walk around for a bit.

"It has been several days since they had the meeting," Nia remarked as she wiped her face with the sleeve of her arm. "Although from what I've heard, things are going very well."

"Tora don't remember details of meeting," the Gormotti Nopon said, hopping in place to eagerly roam around the capital. "Tora bored. Tora want to do something."

"You know," the Gormotti girl realized about something. "We complain about being bored. Why don't we just go the meeting ourselves?"

"Meh-meh?"

"You sure they'll be okay with that?" Rex was skeptical to hear Nia's suggestion.

"I don't mean actually being involved into the meeting," she clarified while rolling her eyes. "I'm sure they don't mind us overhearing the meeting."

"I suppose that can work," the salvager was open to the idea. "Pyra, Mythra, you two care if we do that?"

"Of course not, Rex," Pyra gently responded while expressing a bit of excitement in her tone.

"At least it's something we're going to do," Mythra replied with a slightly humorous tone.

"Then it's settled," the Leftherian boy said with a smile. "We'll go to the capital."

The group marched their way to the Hardhaigh Palace to see their diplomats settle the issues that were on their hands. Upon reaching the palace, the Ardainian soldiers recognized the Driver of the Aegis and gave permission for him and his friends to walk around their kingdom. They took the elevator up and found themselves in the Emperor's throne room. Once the sound of opening the elevator was heard, several important figureheads continued on with their conversation at the table. The group quietly took several steps in, so they did not interrupt the meeting. The Urayan queen, Raqura, and the acting Nopon chief of Argentum Trade Guild, Niranira were quite satisfied with how the meeting had turned out.

"So I believe we've reached a compromise?" She asked the entire group of representatives of their respective lands. "Uraya will provide a treaty with Mor Ardain to hold the unclaimed territory as it stands. Neither nation shall claim that territory as property."

"It is settled," the Emperor of Mor Ardain agreed as he stood up to shake hands with Raqura to make it official. "The unnamed territory will not be up for any land to claim. Until we can further resolve this issue, this area will be off-limits to anyone."

"Niranira won't need another trade guild," the yellow Nopon stated. "Argentum only trade guild need for Alrest."

"In addition to keeping that territory unmarked, Tantal will agree to allow other residents from other lands to live in our city," Zeke asserted while Mòrag nodded, liking the sound of the Tantalese prince make his home as progressive as he could.

"It took some time, but our meeting will now end," Raqura said before making her way to the elevator. "Until another appropriate time to discuss further issues, we are at peace."

All diplomats agreed to keeping their treaties in check as they all had no strong complaints pertaining to the issue. As they made their way out, Raqura and Niranira saw the Aegis and her Driver. They greeted them along with their companions before taking the elevator. After they were gone, the team regrouped once again.

"Meeting's over already?" Rex rhetorically asked yet he was glad that things were handled professionally.

"It took some persuading, but everything all worked out in the end," Mòrag answered while standing erect with her hands placed behind her back.

"Well," Zeke chimed in, correcting a few details. "From what you guys heard, this unclaimed territory is still an issue, but leaving the land as it is will suffice."

"Absolutely," Mòrag's blade added. "This meeting has taken a mental strain on my body. Now we all need to take a breather to alleviate our stresses."

"That's perfect," the salvager cheered because he had something in mind that he wanted to do. "Why don't we go back to the Land of Challenge? I want to meet Shulk and Fiora again and do tougher challenges."

"You read my mind, chum," the Tantalese prince was getting exuberant to meet the two Homs again. "If you're going to go now, then I'm all for it."

"Lady Mòrag," the Jewel of the Empire asked her Driver while placing her right hand on the Special Inquisitor's left shoulder. "Shall we join along?"

"I wouldn't see why not," her Driver responded, prompting Brighid to warmly smile. "Rex, since you have the final say, you decide to meet Shulk and Fiora."

"Awesome," Rex shouted before placing his hands on his hips while arching his back slightly. "Let's go the Land of Challenge right now."

With that, the heroes of Alrest were on their way to Olethro Ruins to meet with the heroes of Bionis again.

* * *

In the maintenance center of New Los Angeles, Elma, Lin, Vandham and the Nopon Archsage were preparing to test out the special simulator that the little Nopon advertised. Because the Commander was present, the faculty at the center gave permission for the four to test out the simulator with their mimeosome pod. As the Nopon Archsage was preparing for the simulator to be operational, the rest had a little conversation without the nopon's knowledge.

"I'm still skeptical about this special simulator," the mustached man claimed as he crossed his arms. "Elma, are you sure this Nopon isn't just deceiving us?"

"I kinda have to agree with Commander Vandham here," Lin made her input. Her expression revealed concernedness for her captain. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you, Elma."

"I understand both of you guys are worried about me," the silver-haired woman responded, keeping her composure despite the possibility that this could all be a trap. "We can't rule out that possibility."

"This all sounds too good to be true," the young girl was skeptical about the trader's deal. "If that's the case, then it's likely that this is all a scam."

"Lin has a point," Vandham agreed while maintaining his stoic expression. "If anything, this could all be just a scam for him to get money while we look like fools."

"Well, I can't say you all are overthinking this," Elma did her best to be reasonable with her companions' concerns. She tilted her head slightly downward. "Since I'm the first one to give this simulator a try, you two can observe and see if anything suspicious arises."

"We will, Elma," Lin immediately said while keeping her tone low. "I don't want anything awful to happen to you."

"Thank you, Lin," Elma gave a warm smile to her comrade before turning to the special simulator. "Should anything wrong happen, I want both of you to take action without hesitation."

"Will do."

"That's common sense," the Commander slightly smirked but was serious about keeping one his best BLADEs safe.

"Friend ready to try special simulator?" The Nopon Archsage asked after making the final touch of calibrating the simulator on one of the pods.

"I am prepared to test out your simulator," Elma kept her expression as unreadable as she could to ensure that the nopon was not detecting any distrust from her.

"Excellent," he was exuberant that the silver-haired woman decided to trust him. "Just go inside simulator and rest, and Nopon Archsage will initiate special simulator."

Elma simply nodded in acknowledgment before walking up to the pod and lying down inside it. The glass that covered the modified hull began slowly descending down to enclose Elma. As she was waiting for the simulator to take effect, Elma felt a small sense of doubt about this deal. Maybe Lin and Vandham were right about this so-called Nopon Archsage. There was a chance that she may not come back alive should things go awry. It was a risk she was willing to take. After all, she trusted Lin and Vandham to take action if something wrong occurred. The sound of the special simulator operating was then heard. The teenaged girl and the muscular man were watching intently at the nopon that ran the simulator. So far, nothing suspicious was felt during the initial phase of the deal. Even then, the two were keeping a sharp eye on him.

Elma then felt her body slowly stop functioning. She had a difficult time moving her legs and arms. Her breathing was going at a faster pace than normal, signaling that the simulator was working fine. However, something else befell that Elma felt was extraordinary. The soul within her was leaving her body. It was not so much as her soul was going to be lost forever. Rather, her soul had exited out of her person and traveled to another world.

Her final thoughts before she became unconscious: _What's this? My soul feels like its leaving my body. Why? Lin…Commander… stop… him._

Elma was no longer in New Los Angeles.

* * *

 **Writer's Note: The timeline between Shulk and Rex's world with Elma's are different. I want to clear that up. Hope you all are enjoying the story so far. Any constructive criticism will help me improve on what I'm lacking for this story.**


	4. Otherworldly Fighter

**Back with another chapter! Sorry if it took long to update. Hopefully this will put smiles on your faces. :)**

* * *

Chapter 4: Otherworldly Fighter

The heroes from the Bionis and Alrest returned to the Land of Challenge after finishing up their agenda back in their own worlds. They were all exuberant to meet each other again and complete several more challenges in the Land of Challenge. Not only did they want to complete some tasks, they also wanted to get to know each other more and learn about the culture from their world. It was peculiar that the two worlds decided to see each other at the same time despite not communicating through any means. Shulk and Fiora entered their portal in Outlook Park while Rex and his group went through theirs at Olethro Ruins. Once they reached the mysterious territory, both groups had met once again.

"Shulk! Fiora!" Rex shouted their names as he waved his right hand as high as he could. "It's so good to see you two again."

"It's good to see you all again," the male Homs greeted back as he and his girlfriend walked towards the people of Alrest.

"It's quite phenomenal that we all happen to arrive here at the same time," Fiora stated before giving a hug to Pyra and Nia. "Talk about déjà vu."

"Seriously," Nia agreed before crossing her arms. "It's like we're destined to be here together or something."

"Tell me about it," the female Homs responded in agreement. "Anyways, what challenges shall we do?"

"Good question," Rex crossed his arms and closed his eyes to muse about it.

"Last challenge was too easy for Tora and friends," the Nopon leaped to garner attention to him.

"We should definitely amp up the difficulty to make things exciting," Zeke added with his humorous demeanor.

"There is one problem," Mòrag scanned at the area they were in. Because she did so, the rest looked at the direction she was staring which was behind Shulk and Fiora. "Where is the Nopon Archsage? Shouldn't he be here?"

"That's odd," Shulk tilted his head in confusion. "I thought he would be here if we ever come back. I wonder where he could be."

The group looked around the area in hopes of locating the Nopon Archsage. After searching for several minutes, he was nowhere to be found. Just when they thought they came here for nothing, a portal appeared at the center of the area. The sudden appearance of the portal raised questions for the group as they rejoiced towards the gateway. None of them wanted to touch the portal because they expected the Nopon Archsage to arrive through the portal. One problem: he never arrived.

"Where does this portal lead to?" The wielder of the Monado wondered as he placed his right hand on his chin.

"If the Nopon Archsage isn't coming, then what should we do?" The Aegis asked feeling a bit lost on the situation.

"Tora say we go in," he exclaimed as his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"That may not be the best choice, Tora," the Gormotti girl doubted her teammate's suggestion. "We don't even know where this portal leads to."

"But why portal appear out of nowhere with no one coming out?" Tora argued. "Friends shouldn't do nothing. We must try and experience ourselves."

"And what if we don't come back?" Nia pressed back still refusing to enter the portal. "I would like to come back alive."

"Meh-meh?"

"To be fair," Rex entered the conversation. "Tora does bring up a good point. We can't be for sure that something bad may happen unless we experience it ourselves first."

"You can't be serious, Rex?" Nia was still adamant on leaving the Land of Challenge until they could confirm that the portal was safe to enter. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"I'm also a bit worried as well," the salvager admitted before stepping closer to the portal. "We have to take this risk. Why else would a portal appear in front us when we couldn't find the Nopon Archsage?"

"I suppose you do have a point…" the young girl had to give it Rex and Tora for bringing up a valid point. "I'm just worried."

"Rest assured friends…" the voice of the Nopon Archsage was heard, but he was nowhere present. "This portal created by Nopon Archsage. I have a challenge for friends to do. Please step in portal."

"Well, does that ease your worries?" Fiora asked Nia in a slightly teasing tone.

"Ugh, I guess so," she grunted still feeling uneasy about the Nopon Archsage's plan. "Don't put the blame on me if we end up lost somewhere unknown."

"That's the spirit, Nia!" Rex cheered while teasing the Gormotti.

"Don't push it," she threatened without any malicious intent behind her words.

The group then entered the portal, wondering what sort of scheme that the Nopon Archsage had in store for them. They were expecting a great challenge to test the limits of their teamwork and abilities. While part of that was true, the rest was for something completely unexpected to the heroes of Alrest and Bionis.

* * *

The arena took place in Uraya. One portal appeared near the edge of Cobalt Cliffs during the night sky. A figure walked out of the portal and into the cliffs of the large Titan. It was a woman wearing a red Grenada Galactic Light Wear Armor. As she made her entrance into the foreign land, Elma stood at the end of a cliff, overseeing the vast scenery of Uraya. The most striking scenic detail to her was the glowing cherry trees surrounding the area she was in.

"Incredible," she said with such fascination of the new land she was in. Elma had to take in the intricate detail and vast area the battle simulator had created. "What a stunning view…"

While she continued looking around the land, Elma saw trees to her right side. The leaves appeared to be peach-colored yet were glowing to illuminate the contrast of the nightshade.

"Is that… cherry?" Elma had to examine the colors and details of the leaves before concluding with a positive vibe. "Yes… It really is. From the country he loved so much, where did all this data come from?" She then proceeded to see a lower floor just under Cobalt Cliffs and it expanded further than she imagined. "And such a wide-open battlefield, too. Very realistic for a simulation…"

Elma naturally smiled after taking in the new scenery and reacting to the simulation that the Nopon Archsage promised to her. She then crossed her arms while still grinning. "I'm pretty impressed. That Nopon trader really gave me a good deal on this."

Then another portal appeared behind the silver-haired woman. It was Rex, Shulk, and the others who had run through and stumbled upon Cobalt Cliffs in Uraya. As they were figuring out what their challenge was, Elma turned to see a bunch of unknown people she had never met before. There was only one problem. She did not physically see a salvager, Homs, and the other races. The woman saw an alien race. Most of them were humanoid-like with four tentacles hanging from their heads and gash mouths. The rest were twice as big but had two tentacles hanging from their jaws. They appeared to be holographical in her eyes.

"Prone…" Elma spoke with such disgust and disdain in her tone. She placed her left fist on her hip while slightly arching her hips to the left. "I see. So you're my enemies then."

The group was oblivious to the fact that Elma was in front of them, but the NLA resident was not concerned about their lack of awareness. They all were discussing what the challenge was and tried to figure out what to do.

"Only this many though?" She was disappointed to see very little of Prone compared to how many she usually fought back in Mira. Elma then pointed one of her dual guns at them, turning her body sideways to the right. "I'll have to tell him to crank up the difficulty next time."

With the sound of a gun loading to fire, the group turned to see where the noise came from. They were surprised to only see one individual pointing a weapon at them.

"Fortune favors the bold," the excitement of battle was pumping her adrenaline along with her voice. She quickly ran towards the group with her dual guns in both hands. "I'll ambush them with some ranged Arts."

"Sliding Slinger!" Elma slid forward with her back against the ground while shooting multiple projectiles at the group. After slithering past the group, she was behind the supposedly Prone. Elma immediately got up, turned her front to right, and fired more bullets at the group with her dual guns. As the group tried to block the bullets with their arms, the silver-haired woman pressed on with more arts at her disposal.

"That put a dent in 'em," Elma smirked before unsheathed her dual swords to continuously assault her enemies. "I'll move in and keep the rhythm going!"

Before the group could even react to wield their weapons, Elma swung her blades in both diagonal motions. Each swing created a wave projectile. "Hundred Shells!"

Many of those slashes had struck each person in the group, which made it tougher for them to even get a chance to attack. Elma then stopped for a moment before swinging her dual blades in a cross formation. The projectile had struck one of the Prone who happened to be Rex. As a result, he grunted due to the power and knockback of the attack. He then fell onto to his knees.

"That voice-" Elma sensed something peculiar about the enemy she had just struck. She was a bit confused by the sound that she heard. "It doesn't match Prone data."

Rex took some damage but felt fine since it was not serious. He looked up to see the tan woman, feeling ready to fight.

"Is the simulator bugging out?" Elma questioned herself as she was unsure as to why a Prone did not sound like how he was supposed to be. She shrugged it off and decided to carry on her battle simulation. "Seems best to clear them out quickly…"

"What's going on?" Rex was confused as he wielded Pyra's sword and took a step back as his battle stance. "Why is she fighting us?"

"There's no time to answer that," Shulk said before bringing out the Monado. Fiora took out her butterfly daggers to assist in the fight against the strange woman who had attacked them. "She doesn't look like she is willing to talk."

"Then we'll talk to her our way then."

Rex began running towards Elma to initiate the battle. However, she leaped back and fired more bullets to keep the salvager at distance. Zeke and Mòrag ran to the sides to apply pressure. The Special Inquisitor swung her Whipswords in a parallel diagonal motion. Two trails of blue fire ran through the ground and were targeting Elma. She flipped to the side to evade the flames before firing one of her guns at her along with Rex. The Tantalese prince was close to her and lunged at her while swinging his Big Bang Edge straight down. With her reaction, Elma flipped backward before lunging at him. She slid on her back and shot many bullets at the prince, taking so much damage before getting sent back. Rex fired a hook from his left arm, catching Elma's armor. She was getting dragged, trying to break free from the hook. Once she was within arm's reach, the salvager swung his Aegis blade in a diagonal downward motion. However, Elma managed to block the attack with one of her dual swords. She then used her free hand to fire a gun at Rex. Luckily for him, Pyra ran in front of him to shield the projectiles. The Special Inquisitor lifted her weapon and horizontally lashed at the woman. Rex then repeated the hook shot, causing Elma to be toppled. Zeke then vertically swung his weapon while jumping simultaneously. The silver-haired woman was launched and vulnerable for multiple attacks to come at her.

"Alright everyone," Rex shouted to his comrades as he was ready for the command. "Deal as much as you can."

"Steady Drill!" Tora struck his Drill Shield upward with all five hits dealing a ton of damage to Elma.

"Gemini Loop!" Nia threw her twin rings like a boomerang at the side.

"Radiance," Mòrag did an upward lash with her first whipsword first before repeating it on her left hand. She then performed a jumping downward slash that released blue fire on Elma.

Zeke raised his sword upward which created electricity before pointing it at the NLA woman. "Overload Thunder Beam!"

"Double Spinning Edge!" Rex spun counterclockwise while striking Elma with his blade twice.

"Air Slash!" Shulk jumped and dragged the Monado along with him before executing the horizontal slash.

"Lacerate!" Fiora swung both of her knives upward as she hopped.

Once Elma fell down, she immediately rolled back to escape the pressure from her opponents. She was still confused as to how the Prone were fighting since they were not this methodical in their game plan. They did not have such power when she was in Mira. "These Prone… I don't recall them having this sort of strength before."

Ignoring the thought, she jumped backward and shot bullets from her dual guns to keep them at a distance. Tora blocked the projectiles with his shield. Brighid created a wall of blue flames to incinerate the bullets. Nia hopped onto her Blade and evaded the bullets safely. Zeke used Pandoria's powers to escape the bullets by dodging at lightning speed. Pyra ran in front of Rex as they both were running towards Elma. She acted as a shield in order to prevent her Driver from getting hurt. Once the NLA resident realized that she was getting nothing from her guns, Elma swapped with her dual blades. She swung her blades at various angles to catch her opponents off guard. The projectiles from her swords were able to alleviate some pressure she was feeling from the Prone. Shulk and Fiora then ran from the sides and were ready to strike the silver-haired woman.

"You're not going to catch me from the sides," Elma then placed the tip of her blades on the ground before bringing out her dual guns. She shot quick but powerful bullets at both Homs before shooting at the rest of the group. "Violent Streak!"

"Man, she's really keeping us from reaching her with those guns," Rex stated before running to Elma from the side.

"We can't all rush to her at the same time," Mòrag responded while having the blue wall of fire protecting her. "I suggest we constantly attack her."

"How do you suggest we should do that?" Zeke asked before blocking one of the bullets with his blade. "Aren't we already doing that?"

"I believe Lady Mòrag means have some of us attack first before the rest come in," her Blade responded in a calm manner despite being at disadvantage.

"Then let me find an opening for you guys then," the Tantalese prince then ran at lightning pace to strike Elma from behind. She screamed in pain before falling to her knees. "Do not underestimate Thunderbolt Zeke or you'll have to face me, the Bringer of Chaos!"

"What… are you talking about?" Elma asked in the most confusing tone possible. "Prone aren't this boastful either."

The prince did not answer as he raised his charged Big Bang Edge upward before placing it on his shoulder blades. He then began to attack by jumping first. "Bringer of Chaos! Ultimate Lightning Fury Slash Max!" The impact engendered the silver-haired woman to be knocked back towards the group who were ready to deliver the final attack. However, everyone surrounded the woman as they were ready to initiate a team attack on her.

"Ok, time for a chain attack," Shulk said to his allies before unleashing the blue blade of the Monado.

"Cool," the salvager was quite surprised to hear that his Homs was able to deliver a team attack. "You guys can do a chain attack as well?"

"We sure can," his girlfriend responded cheerfully before gripping her knives tightly. "But we should hurry."

"Then me first," Rex said before Elma stood up but could not move a single muscle in her body.

"What's this? How can Prone have this much power?" The tan-skinned woman said with such shock as she tried her best efforts to move her body.

"Pyra!" The salvager threw his sword to his Blade.

"Flame Nova!" She absorbed ether and transformed it into fighting spirits. Pyra then sent the spirits to Elma, giving her burns from the attack.

Nia threw one ring to Dromarch before throwing the other at Elma. The Blade then continuously slashed while unleashing his inner beast. "Raging Tiger!"

"Buh buh ba!" Poppi received her shield from Tora and spun around along with the edges of the shield to strike the silver-haired woman. "Poppi Alpha!"

"Brighid!" Mòrag threw her whipswords to her Blade.

"Heat Haze!" She spun herself around, creating a stream of blue flames to incinerate the target.

"Pandoria!" Zeke passed his weapon to his Blade.

"Lightning Force!" She implanted her sword on the ground and took the helm of the sword. It acted as a wand before lightning struck on it. Pandoria then threw it at Elma who felt pulsating electricity running through her body.

"Hidden Thorn!" Fiora attacked Elma with her knives before finishing the chain attack. "Shulk, now it's your chance!"

"Ok, my turn," Shulk positioned the Monado behind him, which created a green color. He then jumped and swung at Elma. "Monado Purge!"

With the final strike, Elma collapsed onto the ground and was defeated at the hands of the heroes whom she thought were a completely different alien species. She took several deep breaths before her eyes began to close. "It seems the simulator… doesn't work."

* * *

The battle had ended. Despite getting pelted with bullets, Elma was outnumbered by Rex and his comrades who were experienced in combat like her. Once the simulation ended, everyone including Elma had returned to the Land of Challenge. While the group was accustomed to returning to the mysterious area, the silver-haired woman was on her left knee, feeling beat from the battle she had just fought.

"Gah!" She felt like she had woken up from a nightmare. Elma took several deep breaths before looking up to see where she was. Confusion was seen from her expression because she presumed that she would return to New Los Angeles. "What is this place?"

The heroes of Alrest and Bionis then ran to her, hoping the woman was in good condition. Rex asked, "Are… Are you ok?"

Recognizing the voice from earlier, Elma was still bewildered that her enemies appeared to be completely different than she imagined. She stood up with lots of questions on her mind. "You're… not Prone?"

"Uh, yeah, about that," the salvager was a bit bothered by the term because the silver-haired woman continuously used that word on them. However, he was a bit intrigued by learning more about other worlds. "What is that word you're using, 'Prone?' You're saying it like it's a race or something. I know Gormotti, Ardainians, Tantalese and so forth, but I've never heard of a 'Prone.'"

"Nor do I, I'm afraid," Mòrag stated to confirm that Prone was unheard of in Alrest. "I do not recall ever hearing of them.

"But until just a moment ago, you looked just like Prone, just like my mortal enemies," Elma pointed out, explaining her experience with the simulator. "I thought this was a battle simulation. You're telling me it's all real? Was this that trader's plan all along?"

"Friend very perceptive," everyone recognized that voice as they heard it many times. The Nopon Archsage walked from the side and was between the group and Elma.

"Whoa! Where'd he come from?" Rex was surprised to see the Nopon again yet should have expected it since the Archsage tended to do that.

"Friend sound startled like 10-ton gorilla with fancy name appear from nowhere and start playing electric guitar."

"Mr. Archsage, respectfully," Pyra calmly spoke to the yellow Nopon. "So it was you that arranged this?"

"Indeedy-doodle!" He happily responded as if he was proud of his work. "Nopon Archsage capable of do almost anything in pursuit of entertainment."

"That's a weird thing to boast about," Nia was slightly lost at the way the Archsage had responded.

"I did wonder why a run-of-the-mill trader was calling himself the 'Nopon Archsage'…" Elma was a bit curious about the yellow Nopon now that she gained a little more information about him. "And anyway, what kind of strange tech did you put in that battle simulator?"

"Oh, nothing much," he sounded like it was not a big deal. "Just little trick for spirit away consciousness of Elma to this here Land of Challenge."

"So my real self is still in NLA, inside the simulator?" Elma had to be sure that her physical body remained at home.

"Very much yes," the Nopon Archsage confirmed. "I glad we sort this out so quickly."

"You said it's my consciousness, but it feels like my whole essence is here," the BLADE commented as she was still uncertain about the situation. "What's your end goal?"

"Very good question!" He jumped excitedly as if he wanted to disclose his dream to the group. "Answer is simple: to realize ambition of Nopon Archsage and make lifelong dream come true!"

"Dream?" Rex asked. "What dream?"

"Could it be to make Elma, me, and you, Rex, meet face-to-face?" Shulk concluded as he and Fiora walked towards the group and were across from the Nopon Archsage.

"It is as Shulk say!" The yellow Nopon graciously confirmed. "Is dream of everyone to see Shulk and Elma in one place together!"

"Who the heck is the 'everyone' in that sentence?" Nia had no idea by what the Archsage meant by his statement.

"I can't believe this," Elma felt like this was all an illusion yet she was experiencing it firsthand. "All the machinations, just for this...? No. I forget myself. First, I should apologize to all of you. I mistook you for enemies and attacked without provocation. The fault lies with me entirely. I hope you can forgive it."

"Relax, there's nothing to overlook!" The Driver of the Aegis accepted her apology without any hesitation. "It was all just a big misunderstanding. My name's Rex. What's yours?"

"I'm Elma, a member of BLADE, a private military outfit based in NLA, the human colony on the planet Mira."

"Uhh, so what you're saying is, you're a Blade?" Nia believed that Elma was like Dromarch, Pyra, and the other Blades from Alrest.

"Oh, um, yes," Elma thought they understood what BLADE meant despite not knowing what Mira was. "You know about BLADEs?"

"Know about them?" Dromarch asked as if the question was silly. "Dear Madam, we are Blades! Blades and Drivers, that is."

"Wait, wait. What does driving have to do with it?"

"But only Poppi is artificial Blade! Please to remember," she added with such exuberance and happiness.

"N-no, hold on, I'm getting confused," Elma was not sure if the people she met knew what she meant by BLADE.

"It appears to me that the word 'Blade' may have different meanings in Rex's and Elma's worlds," Shulk concluded based on the observation he made.

"But that exactly why it so delightful!" The Nopon Archsage stated his reason.

"Right, let's get things straight then," the silver-haired woman decided to clarify what the word meant in her world. "In my world, 'BLADE" indicates the organization. And in yours, it's a species? Race? Is that correct?"

"You're not a million Titanpeds off, but you're not quite on the money," Azurda responded in his own way of saying not entirely true. "When a person touches a Core Crystal, the life form that is born in that instant, that is a Blade."

"A life form born from a crystal, then?" Elma restated to ensure that she was getting the picture. "And they come in all different shapes?"

"Hey, Elma," Fiora wanted to ask something to the NLA resident. "I've noticed that you're not surprised at Gramps and Dromarch speaking."

"Right, well…" Elma had a hard time explaining as to why she was surprisingly fine with Blades talking. "Maybe I'm just used to it. Many different races call Mira home. Weirder still, we can all communicate freely. Some ascribe it to conscious interference by some unknown party."

"Your planet, Mira," Shulk muttered. "It's the first time I'm hearing about it. Your world certainly seems different from ours. The Bionis and Alrest were relatively similar in comparison."

"Definitely!" Rex excitedly shouted before toning down his voice. "At first I just thought you guys came from some humanoid Titan that I'd never heard of."

"Hold on, there's something I want to check." Elma interrupted the flow of the conversation as she stared at Tora intently.

"Wh-what is problem?" The Nopon was afraid of Elma's intense stare at him. "Why friend Elma looking at Tora like Tora eat Elma's breakfast?"

"Don't you dare say that like it's something you'd ever do, Tora," Nia made a rebuttal, knowing her Nopon enough to know his behavior.

"But Tora just meet Elma! When Tora have time to go to other world and eat someone's breakfast?!"

"The speech pattern definitely matches," Elma confirmed her suspicions about Tora. "You said your name was Tora? Are you friends with a Nopon called Tatsu?"

"Meh-meh-meh-meh?!" Tora was taken a bit back by her question. "That absurd! Tora not have any friends called Tatsu!"

"Hm, fine then," the NLA resident was slightly fascinated by the Gormotti Nopon's response. "It seems I've got the wrong Nopon. The Tora I know was smaller, anyway, and a far sweeter child."

"Memeh… Tora cop to being larger than most Nopon his age, but never thought sweetness would be put to question."

"Easy there, Tora," Nia said. "I know it's a sore subject, but we really need to hurry this conversation along, all right?"

"You pronounce it 'No-pon?'" Brighid observed Elma's way of pronouncing the name of the Nopon race. "Over here, we say it with a short vowel. Are the creatures themselves similar?"

"The appearance and mannerisms are the same," the silver-haired woman answered. "I can't really see any major differences on the whole. Well. It might support the hypothesis that my world is different somehow, and it might be a little late to say, but... Rex, and you, Shulk, I'm ready to accept that you and yours are not simply virtual simulator entities."

"Well, that's a relief!" Pyra held her hands on her chest; feeling reassured that they were going to make another friend. "And it's just a step away from being friends."

"Pyra's right!" Fiora agreed. "After all, it didn't take us long to ally with Pyra and her friends, either."

"Yes, I certainly get that impression," Elma commented. Rex then had this strange urge to walk between Shulk and Elma. Once he did, the salvager turned to face the Homs before facing the Full Metal Jaguar. He could not believe that there were multiple universes other than Alrest. Because of that thought, he scratched the back of his head.

"Meh meh!" The Nopon Archsage acted so exuberantly by the sight of the main heroes of three different universes had come together for the first time. "This exactly the scene that Archsage write so many stories about and post to Argentum notice board!"

"For an Archsage, he's sure got some kiddy-like dreams, eh?" Rex questioned aloud.

"You could say that again," Nia said.

"You not make fun of dreams of Archsage!" The yellow Nopon defensively screamed. "Dream of Archsage is chance for friends! Great chance to earn much experience and get awesome loot!"

"That is an enticing proposition," Elma said with interest in her mind. "But I do have my duties as a BLADE colonel to perform. I can't afford to spend hours on end stuck in a simulator."

"That is problem that is barely problem!" The Nopon Archsage knew that Elma had responsibilities to take care of, so he devised a plan to circumvent it. "Nopon Archsage have already tweak relative timestream flow rate setting. For one day that pass in this realm, time elapsed on Mira is precisely 270 milliseconds."

"Milliseconds," Shulk thought that such a unit measure was nonexistent. "Did he just make up a unit there?"

"In other words, I could spend an entire year here, and only lose ten seconds on the other side?" Elma evaluated, hoping that her math was correct.

"Just so! Perfect for training self!" The Archsage confirmed happily. "Also, Archsage deeply impressed by arithmetic skills. No need to train those."

"Yes, I can appreciate the usefulness. And, er… thank you?"

"So, what Rex think?" He asked the salvager. "Want to borrow strength of Elma, just like did with Shulk and Fiora?"

"Of course!" Rex was not hesitant on having the NLA resident to his team. "You can never have too many friends!"

"Then it's decided," Elma was not to disagree on anything. "From now on, I'll be at your command. Looking forward to it, Team Rex."

* * *

 **Author Note: I do feel a bit unhappy about this chapter, mainly because of the dialogue after you beat Elma. The reason is that it makes me feel unoriginal to write this chapter. However, this all has to be written for the purpose of the flow of the story. It all makes sense once future chapters are in the works. I swear after like a chapter or two, it's all going to be original thought and work of my own. If you critique about this, then I understand and will acknowledge it. Thank you for listening!**


	5. Dino Drama

**Hey everyone! It's been a while since I last updated this story. December and January, I had a lot to take care of personally and had some things to think over before returning to writing. Basically, I'm a a point where I don't know what I want to do ever since I graduated. Now that I'm back, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5: Dino Drama

The Nopon Archsage's dream of bringing Shulk, Rex, and Elma together had come true. The joy on his face was something that a child or even a long-time fan would ever dream of happening. He was going to enjoy every moment. Additionally, he had a special project he had in mind. Meanwhile, the diverse group of people still could not believe that they all had come from different worlds. After the silver-haired woman joined Rex and his group of warriors, the others spent a little bit of time to learn about Elma and her home. They learned about how she ended up on planet Earth before escaping on the White Whale to find another planet to habit. Eventually, they found their home but were met with dangerous lifeforms. A particular pod had crashed into Mira, which ended up becoming their home. During their time there, Elma informed the group about the other races they met, including the war they were in against the Ganglion, a race dedicated to eliminating humans. She also mentioned some people she had known who were her allies and enemies. In the end, despite going through it all, Elma and her team were at peace for the time being in Mira. She prayed that nothing would happen to NLA.

* * *

It had been hours since the entire group had stayed in the Land of Challenge doing the various challenges that the Nopon Archsage had given them. In the beginning, the challenges were not difficult for the heroes because they were still getting used to how Shulk, Fiora, and Elma fought. With the three of them fighting on their own, the group had to get used to the way the others fought. Because they were not acting as the Driver's Blades, the team mostly worked on their coordination so they could maximize their efforts through solid communication and follow-ups. As the challenges got harder, the team was having trouble passing through certain enemies in certain challenges. Two particular challenges were against two unique enemies from Rex's world. The Chickenheart Dagmara and Cloud Sea King Ken had their own challenge for the heroes to participate. At first, they were unable to succeed. While they were getting better as time went on, the group failed to deliver the final blow to both challenges. After fighting for so long, the heroes decided to take a break before getting back.

"Those are some tough challenges," Rex muttered, crossing his arms and feeling a bit disappointed.

"Well, that's for sure," Shulk agreed before sitting down to relax for a bit. By doing so, the rest of the group had sat down in a circle. "We need to strategize better."

"Agreed," Mòrag remained standing still along with her Blade who accompanied by her side. "We must discuss and implement new battle tactics if we ever succeed in these challenges."

"We don't necessarily have to go right into the same challenges again," Fiora chimed in.

"What do you mean, Fiora?" Pyra inquired.

"I was thinking more of trying other challenges to ease up our stresses. That way, it'll take off our minds on the challenges we couldn't beat."

"Fiora does provide a valid point," Elma crossed her arms, musing over the female Homs' suggestion. "It's never a bad idea to try out others and then coming back on a task you could not achieve before. You might gain a new perspective on things that may benefit you for that."

"That's exactly my point!"

"I don't mind doing other challenges to take our minds off of Chickenheart Dagmara and Cloud Sea King Ken," Nia was fine with going along with the group since she had no objections to it.

"Poppi conclude that such tactic will bring success by 34%."

"As long as Tora and Poppi are here, nothing is impossible," the Nopon boasted.

"I am impressed that you, Fiora, had developed such a tactic," Elma said to the Homs. "If you ever visit NLA, I would gladly recommend you to join either the Harriers or the Interceptors."

"That's very kind of you Elma," Shulk's girlfriend smiled that the silver-haired woman thought so highly of her. "I was once considered for the Defense Force back in Colony 9."

"I see," Elma acknowledged her ally's statement. "Did you ever join?"

"I decided not to for personal reasons."

"Let's get back to the discussion at hand," Mòrag suggested to the group despite not appearing to be impatient. "What challenges should we try before going back to the tougher ones?"

"May the Zekenator suggest an idea," the Tantalese prince displayed his flamboyant personality.

"You can just tell us, Shellhead," the Gormotti girl unamusingly said.

"I happen to see a challenge before we decided on the unique monsters' trials," Zeke ignored Nia's comment and continued on with his response. "Within the options presented to us, there was a particular challenge that caught my eye."

"Well, what did you see?" Elma asked the Bringer of Chaos.

"A challenge known as Dino Drama."

There was a brief moment of silence as the group did not recall seeing that challenge listed to them earlier. Several heads tilted in confusion as the heroes tried to remember if they ever glimpse at the challenge that Zeke mentioned. They looked at each other, hoping one of them could back up the Tantalese's claim. Unfortunately, no one was able to confirm.

"Are you sure that was one of the challenges listed, Shellhead?" Nia broke the silence.

"I swear it," Zeke promised. "My eye has seen what has been presented to me. Take it what you will, but Thunderbolt Zeke saw what he saw."

"My prince is right," Pandoria agreed with her Driver. "I also saw the challenge with my own eyes as well."

"There you have it," he continued. "You have another witness who also confirmed the existence of that challenge. Surely, you cannot deny that such a challenge exists."

"I won't say that I don't believe you," Shulk admitted, piquing the interest of the supposedly new challenge that Zeke and Pandoria claimed to have seen. "It's only fair that we find the challenge to see if it's true or not."

"Nothing wrong can come out of it," Fiora added.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out ourselves," the salvager shrugged his shoulders while also showing some interest in the challenge.

With that, the group walked towards the Nopon Archsage who had his back turned away. It looked like he was hiding something. Once the team was close, he turned to face the people. The Nopon Archsage did hide something, but he managed to conceal whatever he was hiding away from the heroes. No one wanted to question him, so they kept their eyes on him until something was up.

"Hello, friends!" The yellow Nopon greeted. "Are friends ready to resume same challenge?"

"Actually," Rex answered. "We were deciding to do other challenges instead."

"Oh," he sounded disappointed but not surprised by Rex's statement. "Here are other challenges friends can do. Choose any you want."

A holographic list of challenges appeared in front of the group. They scanned and scrolled through the list to see if the challenge that Zeke saw was present. After looking through the holographic list, Dino Drama was not seen.

"Zeke, are you sure that the challenge you saw is here?" Rex said after scrolling through the list several times. "I don't see Dino Drama anywhere on this list."

"There's no way," the Tantalese prince was in disbelief. "I really did see Dino Drama on that list. It just didn't go away like that…unless it's a limited time exclusive challenge."

"I don't think such a concept exists here," Fiora disagreed, furrowing her eyes in confusion by Zeke's choice of words. "Maybe you might have confused it with another challenge."

"I know what I saw," Zeke persisted. "It just has to be there."

"I don't know Zeke," Rex turned to the Tantalese prince. "I'm looking as thoroughly as I could, but there isn't the challenge that you mentioned."

The Bringer of Chaos grunted feeling a bit disappointed that the challenge did not appear in the holographic list. Rex tilted his head downward, unhappy that his comrade felt dissatisfied about the result. However, Elma gazed at the list again. She decided to walk closer to it and scroll through one more time. It took a double-take for the silver-haired woman to see a particular challenge listed.

"I think I may have found the challenge we were looking for."

The rest of the group looked at Elma still in disbelief that she had easily found Dino Drama. Zeke was pleased to hear that he was not just seeing things.

"Did you seriously find it that quickly?" Shulk wondered since he was certain that Rex searched the list with all of his efforts. "I could've sworn that Rex searched through the list and found nothing."

"Well, I thought so as well," Elma was on the same boat as well. "But I can clearly identify a challenge called Dino Drama right here."

The rest of the group saw the challenge that Elma pointed at to see that it indeed exists.

"Well, what do you know?" Shulk rhetorically asked. "You were right, Zeke. The challenge you saw was there. We've must've missed it. Sorry for doubting you."

"Don't worry about it," the Tantalese prince was back to his old self again. "I knew I wasn't crazy for seeing things."

"My prince," Pandoria tugged his arm. "I knew you weren't crazy. I also saw the challenge with you."

"Good thing my Blade is always by my side," he wrapped his arm around Pandoria. "Anyways, let's get this show on the road, chum."

"Sure like it," Rex turned to face the Nopon Archsage. "We'll do the Dino Drama challenge since Zeke suggested it back there."

"That fine, friends," the Nopon said, having no trouble with their choice. "Welcome to stage of destiny, teehee."

* * *

Without notice, all of the fighters disappeared from where they stood. The Nopon Archsage nodded his head as if everything was going to plan. There was this strange vibe that he might be the one who added the challenge when the group initially could not find it. Neither of the members questioned the little Nopon. They were focused on completing a different challenge in hopes of lifting their spirits for harder missions.

The heroes suddenly appeared in the land of Temperantia. Their precise location was west of the Titan. Several rocks were within their proximity, which may or may not benefit them in the challenge. However, the one detail that caught their attention the most was a large dinosaur-like creature in front of them. It was like any normal Sauros with the exception being its name. The monster was known as Goliath Sauros.

"Enemy appear similar to Deimos Sauros," Poppi analyzed the monster's appearance.

"Well, if it looks like one, then it must fight like one, too," Rex concluded before unsheathing his blade.

"That's one way to look at it," Nia remarked before bringing out her twin rings.

"Only one?" Zeke scoffed since he believed that they were going to take down more than one monster. He then held his Big Bang Edge and was ready to fight. "That's no problem for us."

"Something feels off," Shulk experienced a strange feeling inside himself from this challenge.

"What was that, Shulk?" Fiora asked, believing she overheard her boyfriend mutter something.

"It's nothing," he responded. "I was just talking to myself."

She shrugged off his answer before getting ready to begin the challenge.

"The challenge battle…begins!"

* * *

Everyone had their weapons on them and was ready to fight against the Goliath Sauros to complete the mission. Several seconds into the challenge, the Sauros stood still, not wanting to approach the group. At first, the heroes were confused as to why the enemy did not initiate the attack. Shaking off of that observation, the team decided to run in and deliver the first blow. Rex was the first one to strike by running to the side of the enemy and swinging his sword in a circular motion twice. Once the Sauros got hit, it was ready to retaliate against the group. Nia, Tora, Mòrag, Zeke, Shulk, and Fiora positioned themselves where they were not close to each other but not far away as well. As they were attacking, the Sauros merely stomped on each target. It first went for the salvager who then rolled to the side to escape. After dodging the stomp, Rex horizontally had thrust the Aegis sword onto one of its feet. Nia took her Twin Rings, swung them horizontally towards the left before twirling around in a clockwise to deliver more strikes. Tora struck his Drill Shield forward several times, hoping that the beast would fall to the ground. Despite landing it successfully, the Sauros was unaffected by it. Mòrag swiped her Whipswords in front of the beast in order to have it target her. Zeke positioned his Big Bang Edge horizontally, unleashed electricity, and delivered three powerful swings. Shulk firmly gripped the Monado and swung across himself to deal damage. Fiora leaped upward while striking the Sauros with her Knives before striking again on the way down.

Afterward, they all continued to swing at the Sauros while dodging the stomps and tail whips it threw out against the group. Strangely, the enemy was enduring much more than the heroes had anticipated. It felt like the Sauros did not have a scratch on itself, making the fighters think it was all in vain. They pressed on until the enemy took more damage. However, that task was going to have to take a step back for a moment. The next wave suddenly began. Many small creatures that resemble coelurosaurians known as skwarors all rushed to the heroes to distract them from the Goliath Sauros.

"Where did they all come from?" The Gormotti said as she continued to swing her Twin Rings at the Arpat Rapchors. One of the little critters snuck up behind Nia to bite her. However, Dromarch rushed in, bit back, and threw the small beast away. "Nice save, Dromarch."

"I shall defend you till my last breath, my lady."

"Looks like we have to strategize our gameplan," Mòrag said aloud to her comrades before blocking one of the Rapchors' bites.

"It's going to take more than these little shrimps to bring us down," Zeke shouted while adding a bit of humor and swinging his sword to chase off the Rapchors.

"We have to split up," Shulk suggested as he dodged the Sauros' tail. He ran behind the beast and slashed its left leg. "Some of us will fight the Sauros while the rest will take on the others."

Everyone had acknowledged the seer's command. Shulk, Fiora, Zeke, and Pandoria decided to take on the Sauros while the rest of the group handled the wave of monsters that will come at them. Many Arpat Rapchor ran towards the larger group to weaken the group's strength.

Mòrag swiped her Whipswords across herself, creating a wall of blue flames to keep the enemies from approaching. The little dinosaurs tried to circle around the flames to find an opening. Before they realized, Poppi came out of nowhere and attacked them with her spinning slash. It caused most of them to fall down. Dormarch unleashed a wave of water within his proximity. The wall of flame had been extinguished, and the Rapchors were engulfed in water. Once they were vulnerable, Elma stepped in and swung multiple times to release waves of projectiles to strike all of the monsters. Rex threw his sword to Pyra who then unleashed pillars of fire beneath the little dinosaurs before they all were burned up. Several of the Rapchors were still alive and leaped at the group to bite them. The others turned around and tried to release toxic gas from their behinds. Luckily, the heroes all dodged the attack before striking again. Elma shot bullets from her dual guns. Rex ran forward a bit, front flipped, and then slammed the Aegis blade on the ground. The impact of the strike caused a trail of burning ether to travel towards the Rapchors. Mòrag gave her weapons to her Blade before she flew towards her enemies. Brighid then spun around to incinerate them. Poppi held her Drill Shield before shooting out a powerful ether vortex to finally deliver the killing blow.

* * *

Once they were taken care of, another wave of monsters was approaching. This time, there were only three monsters that appeared. Two large quadrupedal dinosaur-like beasts were behind the group. Between the behemoths, there was a small lizard-like monster running towards them. Rex immediately ran in front of the group and had thrust the Aegis sword forward. The impact was strong enough for the little monster to die. Because the salvager was targeting the Upa, one of the Mammuts charged towards him to deliver a powerful headbutt. Thankfully, Rex's reaction was quick enough for him to evade the attack. However, the other Mammut swung its head at the Driver of the Aegis twice before sending him backward.

"Are you okay, Rex?" Nia said worriedly before the rest of the group surrounded the salvager.

"I'm fine," the young lad responded before getting up without trouble. "Barely a scratch. We still got a challenge to complete."

Both Mammuts unleashed a chilling wind from their breath that could cause them to be sent back further. They all reacted in time by firmly impacting their weapons onto the ground and tightly gripping the handle of their weapons to hold their ground. The Blades held onto their Drivers to make sure that they did not get blown away. Once they were ready to retaliate, Elma fired bullets from her Dual Guns to distract them. Tora ran to the side and executed a Spinning Cutter to deal damage. Mòrag raised her weapon and horizontally lashed at one of the Mammuts. Nia threw her Twin Rings on the other side of the Mammut opposite of where the Special Inquisitor attacked. Rex then fired his anchor at one of its legs, engendering it to fall onto the ground. Elma then struck the enemy once, stepping back, and then lunging forward to deliver a powerful strike to the face. The Nopon then was ready to continue the combo his comrades had initiated.

"Poppi QTpi, it's time to shine!" Poppi transformed into a much older and mature female humanoid with an entirely new weapon bestowed upon her. She then gave her Sabre Sword to her Driver who then flipped himself while swinging the blade, causing the Mammut to be launched.

The rest of the group threw out their attacks until the launched beast fell down. Before they continued on, the other Mammut ran at the group. They all managed to evade the attack. Mòrag gave her weapons to her Blade to initiate her art. Brighid griped both Whipswords on each hand. She swung the first blade diagonally before the swinging the second one in the opposite direction. Each strike emitted blue flames that struck both Mammuts. The Jewel of the Empire repeated the same attack again to buy more time for her comrades to counter. Dromarch controlled the Twin Rings before slashing viciously at the Mammuts. Elma performed her Hundred Shells art for continuous damage. Poppi QTpi held her Saber before charging at the Mammuts and swinging at various angles for critical damage. Soon then Poppi reverted back to her Alpha form. Finally, Rex flipped forward and struck the blade on the ground. Once he finished his Rolling Smash art, he gave the blade to Pyra. She performed Prominence Revolt to burn the Mammuts with pillars of fire that erupted beneath them.

* * *

The 3rd wave was over, but it was not over for them yet. The next set of monsters was ready to appear. This time, only two monsters appeared before them. They were two large pterodactyl-like creatures with orange pigment skin. The group initially thought this was not going to be a problem since some believed that the Pterix were not going to be formidable.

Then, one of the Pterix, shot all four fireballs at the group. However, the enemy only shot three despite the heroes dodging the projectiles. The other monster blew a powerful gust of wind to cause a blowdown at the group. The first Pterix then unleashed a more powerful fireball to deliver a burning attack.

"Everyone!" Shulk shouted to his comrades as he blocked a stomp from the Sauros. "Are you all okay?!"

The blonde Homs was not expecting to be met with the tail of the Sauros, sending him back at a great velocity.

"Shulk!" Fiora called to her boyfriend before she fell down from the tail strike.

"Alright, dino freak, you have angered me," Zeke shouted before radiating electricity from his weapon. "Now you'll feel the devastating wrath of Thunderbolt Zeke, Bringer of Chaos!"

The Tantalese prince along with Pandoria disappeared and traveled across the body of the Goliath Sauros to deliver electrifying strikes. Each strike made the monster flinch. He then stood in front of the enemy before delivering his Overload Thunder Beam. However, the Sauros roared at the prince, which caused him to be launched upward.

"What the?!"

"Fiora!" Shulk ran to her and lifted her up. "Are you okay? You're not hurt?"

"I'm fine, Shulk," the female Homs was focused on defeating the Sauros who was sending small bits of fire at the Tantalese. "Zeke is in trouble. We got to hurry."

Meanwhile, the rest of the team handled the two Pterix that was giving them a bit of trouble. Both of them created a wind storm to blind the perceptions of the heroes. Immediately after, both of the creatures shot multiple rounds of fire. Nearly everyone was hit with the exception of Mòrag who had a carrier of blue flames surrounding her and Nia who had a veil of water vaporizing the fire thanks to Dromarch.

"Nearly got toasted there," the Gormotti girl took a huge sigh of relief. "Thanks, Dromarch."

"I shall always protect you, my lady," he responded before crouching down to intimidate his opponent.

"Brighid, thank you," the Flamebringer said to her Blade.

"I would be horrified at myself for letting you get hurt, Lady Mòrag," the Jewel of the Empire spoke before standing by her side. "Shall we demonstrate these barbaric heathens what happens when you try to harm the Special Inquisitor?"

"Gladly," Mòrag smirked before handing one of the Whipswords to her Blade. "Everyone, give us some time before we use our Azure III: Soulfire."

"That'll be no problem," Rex gave a slight smirk before running closer to the two Pterix. Gripping the sword tightly, the salvager swung the Aegis in two different diagonal directions. The flaming projectiles had struck each Pterix. They focused on Rex and flew towards him. This was a good opportunity to counter now that their enemies were vulnerable.

"Move in and keep the rhythm going," Elma shouted to her comrades. She ran towards the creatures before sliding underneath them to fire with her Dual Guns. The two monsters then shifted their attention to the silver-haired woman who had her Dual Swords ready. Before she was met with a powerful gale, Poppi carried Tora and flew above the two Pterix. She then dropped her Driver at one of them. Gripping the Drill Shield as tightly as he could, Tora slammed the first Pterix's head, causing him to bounce off directly next to the second Pterix. He then repeated the same action, engendering both of the monsters to fall down to the ground. Elma was a bit surprised by an unorthodox way of fighting that the Nopon had displayed. "Interesting tactic."

Because the enemies were in Topple, the rest of the group continuously attacked the two Pterix until the Special Inquisitor was ready to incinerate them. The creatures took several beatings before they tried to get up. Mòrag and Brighid were finally prepared to annihilate the beasts in front of them.

"Brighid, form the third."

"Roger that, Lady Mòrag," both struck the enemies in a cross formation and then swung outwards. They ended it by raising their weapons upward with the tips facing each Pterix. Blue flames emitted out of the Whipswords, burning the two Pterix before they fell to the ground. "Blue flames heed my call, dance for me, Soulfire!"

Now remain the Goliath Sauros. The group saw that Shulk, Fiora, Zeke, and Pandoria were putting up a fight but struggled because it felt like the monster was not going to die at any moment. They rushed to aid and hopefully succeed the challenge.

"Any progress?" Rex ran to Shulk's side as he blocked a stomp.

"We gave the Sauros some damage, but," Shulk paused to roll to the side while the salvager leaped backward to escape the tailwhip. "It doesn't seem to be taking much damage."

"Now that we're all here, it'll make things much better."

"I won't argue there. Let's show them what we're capable of."

The first course of action Rex did was giving his sword to Pyra who then gathered ether around herself before unleashing a powerful blast at the Sauros. The creature then focused its attention on the salvager who was ready to evade every attack. Soon everyone else followed up with their Blade's special arts. Brighid went first, followed by Dromarch, Poppi, and Pandoria, which ended up damaging the Sauros greatly. Fiora gripped her Knives and leaped upward and spun around to deliver multiple powerful strikes to the monster's head. The impact of her attack caused the beast to fall over.

"It's all up to you, Shulk!"

"Ok, my turn," the Homs stood firm and positioned the Monado in front of him. Then a tall, light blue beam was emitted from the blade. He took a step forward, leaned the Monado back, and delivered a devastating blow. "Monado… Buster!"

The strength of the Monado had somehow made the Sauros struggle to get up. It appeared to be severely damaged from the attack, which was a bit surprising to Shulk. He was not expecting the Monado to have such strength, especially in the current form that it was in. The seer was a bit surprised to see that his former weapon was capable of doing so. He recalled a few instances where the Monado had that sort of power. Those times were when the Monado was in different forms. As a result from pondering about it, he was becoming distracted while the others were still fighting.

"Shulk," Fiora shook her boyfriend in a worried tone. "Don't doze off in the middle of a challenge."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Fiora," he sounded like nothing had happened to him. "It's nothing."

She shrugged it off before returning to the battle. However, the battle appeared to come to an end when Rex suggested to his comrades to do a chain attack. Most agreed to the salvager's suggestion except for the silver-haired woman.

"What's wrong, Elma?" Nia asked. "Something wrong?"

"I'm not sure what this chain attack you all are referring to, but I'll sit this one out and observe how it works."

"You'll enjoy the show, that's all I'll say."

"Alright, me first," Rex shouted before a powerful wave stunned the Sauros from acting out. He threw his weapon to his Blade. "Pyra!"

She repeated the same talent art previously, unleashing a burning spirit towards the Sauros. Dromarch was next. The Twin Rings were floating around him before both were telekinetically slashing at the enemy through his inner raging tiger. Poppi was third in line. She held the Drill Shield before swirling around towards the Sauros. Multiple hits were struck. Brighid immediately followed suit. She had her Whipswords and spun around, emitting blue flames surrounding herself to incinerate the Sauros at close range. Pandoria planted the Big Bang Edge on the ground while holding the helm like a wand. She caught a lightning strike before throwing it at the creature. Fiora joined in on the chain attack. She reverse gripped her Knives struck outward and then struck inwards. Shulk was next. He pulled the Monado back with its green ether, leaped upward, and swung in a horizontal motion.

The chain attack was not over. All of them had one more chance to strike again in order to take down the Goliath Sauros. Pyra implanted her sword onto the ground, creating pillars of fire underneath the Sauros. Dromarch telekinetically twirled his Twin Rings by using ether while healing his teammates simultaneously. Poppi held the Drill Shield close to her before shooting a vortex of ether. Brighid swung one Whipsword in one direction while the second Whipsword was in the opposite direction. Each swing emitted multiple orbs of fire to burn the Sauros greater than before. Pandoria implanted her weapon on the ground and used the helm as a wand again. This time she moved the metal of the blade to attack the enemy rather than using her wand. Fiora leaped and spun around, attacking the Sauros with a powerful wind surrounding her. Finally, Shulk was ready to unleash Monado Cyclone to deliver the final strike.

It was all over. The challenge was complete. Despite the difficulty of the challenge, the heroes were able to overcome and achieve it.

* * *

 **One thing to note, I have changed the title name to Xenoblade Chronicles: The 5 Sins of Grief instead. I thought the title sounded more fitting since the inspiration of the story is based off of the 7 Deadly Sins. With that being said, the good part will come! The reason why the plot is kinda slow is because it was necessary to develop it into where I wanted it to be which explains why I didn't enjoy writing the Challenge Mode battles because it was a lot for me to write and not being able to creatively use my brain to imagine things haha.**


	6. Dreams and Forthcoming Nightmares

**Sorry for the late update. Life has been a bit busy for me and haven't committed too much time to write this story. However, I should be better. Now that the plot of the story is where I wanted to be, I can write the story without getting bored XD. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 6: Dreams and Forthcoming Nightmares

Despite the challenge's difficulty, the heroes managed to pull off a tremendous victory. Going into the challenge, everyone acknowledged how tough it was. Many formidable beasts swarmed each wave, forcing the group to strategize different tactics on the spot. Thankfully, the diverse group of heroes came together and pulled off what was perhaps a miracle. They were going to take a break after completing Dino Drama once they return to the Land of Challenge.

When they returned to the aforementioned territory, the Nopon Archsage stood in front of the group at the dead center of the area. He looked like he wanted to say something to them. Whether the message was an appraisal or concerning, the little Nopon's facial expression made it harder to decipher what he was feeling.

"Shulk, Fiora, Elma" he finally spoke. "There something I have to give you."

The three people mentioned along with Rex stepped closer to the Archsage. They were curious as to what the yellow Nopon was going to give them.

"What is it?" Shulk asked.

"Look," he pulled out a strange-looking ring and handed to the couple. They were not exactly sure why they were given such an accessory.

"Some kind of funny-looking ring…?" Fiora guessed.

"Strange it may look, yes, but it is extremely valuable," he emphasized its significance. "It called Alrest Linkring. Archrare treasure of Nopon Archsage. If friends have this, friends can travel to world of Alrest."

Hearing that information was a major shock to hear from everyone, they were not expecting to travel to different worlds when initially thought that it was not possible.

Rex was amazed that such technology existed. "That's crazy. I never knew something like that even existed."

"You could've given it to us a lot sooner, you know," Fiora criticized because she thought the Archsage kept it hidden from them intentionally.

"I never thought friends could make it this far. That is reason. But friends showed something special. That deserve very special reward."

"I guess that makes sense," the salvager said.

"Thank you, then," Shulk's girlfriend felt better about the Alrest Linkring.

"Come! Friends try on now."

Shulk wore the ring on his right ring finger and turned back to see if the Nopon Archsage's claims were true. "Woah, this is incredible. I can see the portal that Rex and the others came through."

"That means you'll be able to go back to Alrest with us!" Rex had his hands on his hips and was elated to hear the good news.

"Looks like it."

"Hold on," Fiora just realized something. "What about Elma? Can she not see the portal where Rex and the others went through?"

"Oh, that's right," her boyfriend felt idiotic for forgetting their comrade. "Elma, can you see the portal?"

"I don't think so," the NLA woman responded with disappointment. "I cannot see a portal that you guys are speaking of behind us."

"Hey, Archsage," Rex called out the Nopon. "Does this mean that Elma can't come to Alrest with us?"

"On the contrary friends," he disagreed in a strangely humorous manner and pulled out a similar ring that Shulk wore. "This for Elma."

The second ring was handed to the silver-haired woman. Elma did a quick assessment of the item given to her. For some odd reason, she thought it could fit her Grenada Galactic Group Light Wear. "This looks like… an augment for my ground gear armor. Where did you get that?"

"Friend shouldn't sweat small details. Should focus on important point, which is awesomeness of Alrest Link Relay!"

"Is it the same sort of thing as the rings that Shulk and Fiora got?" Rex asked.

"It should…?" Elma responded in a form of a question since she was unsure as well.

"If friend equip this, can leave this realm and travel to world of Alrest."

"I'd be able to help Rex and the others on their quest, is that right?" She asked just to be sure. The Archsage nodded to confirm her claim. "While my body remains in NLA…Interesting! An opportunity to cross swords with new peoples and enemies!

"However, there is special condition," he warned before they got carried away with the Linkring and the Relay Ring.

"Oh, yeah?" Fiora wondered what he meant by that.

"It is not bodies of Shulk, Fiora, and Elma that will travel to Alrest," the short Nopon elaborated the situation. "Only their spirits."

"Spirits?" The NLA woman mused as she placed her fingers on her chin.

"Come again? How does that work?" Shulk's girlfriend asked.

"It like a ghost thing. Friends be on Alrest, but not actually exist there. In actuality, friends will remain right here."

"But we'll still be able to explore the world that Rex comes from?" The Monado wielder inquired.

"Very much so," he exclaimed. "Friends able to see, eat, fight, speak… can do most things just like normal."

"That sounds brilliant!" Fiora exclaimed, joyous at the fact that she and Shulk can travel to different worlds and experience it as if they were physically there. "Where do I sign?"

"Yeah, I'm curious to experience that for myself," Shulk agreed while just as exuberant as his girlfriend.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to experience a completely new world outside of Mira," Elma smiled, getting enthusiastic at the mere thought of it.

"I very happy that friends happy," The Nopon Archsage grinned to see the heroes travel to each other's worlds to explore. "I, Nopon Archsage, spend thousand of years finding Alrest Linkring and Alrest Link Relay, so please not to drop in toilet accidentally."

"Shulk, Elma, Rex," Fiora called. "It seems like maybe it'd be quickest to just try for ourselves. Shall we get going?"

"Let's go try this out," the silver-haired woman agreed.

"Yeah, I reckon you might be right," the seer responded.

"Let's go then!" Rex cheered. He was in high spirits because the salvager was ready to give a huge tour around Alrest for Shulk, Fiora, and Elma.

* * *

The four returned to the group, explaining everything so that no confusion would arise among the group. Thanks to Shulk's comprehensive explanation, everyone in the group understood how the Alrest Linkring and Link Relay functioned. What really mattered to them was that the Homs and NLA woman were able to visit any parts of Alrest. Once they were prepared, the heroes made their way to the portal returning to Olethro Ruins. The Land of Challenge was empty once again. The Nopon Archsage nodded to himself while expressing an odd smirk. Something was on his mind. It did not look pleasing, to say the least.

Upon returning to Olethro Ruins, Shulk, Fiora, and Elma gazed around the structure of their surroundings. They were amazed despite being in a hallway that leads to Vandham's grave. Rex decided that the first thing the new arrivals should see would be at the Olethro Playhouse. The thing that struck the newcomers the most was how the infrastructure lost its other half.

"Incredible," Elma said in awe.

"This is unbelievable to see," Fiora said gleefully.

"And just out there," The view reminded Shulk of being on the Bionis Leg. "It looks like an endless sea cloaked by a boundless sky. It feels like I'm back at home."

"It _does_ remind me of home, too," his girlfriend agreed. "They live on Titans just like when we used to live on the Bionis before our new world."

"It truly does."

"Nia," she turned to the Welsh Cat. "Didn't you say that the Titans all merged together after your big adventure?"

"Yeah, it felt surreal," the Gormotti took a deep breath and thought back at that exact moment. "I'll be honest; I prefer that all of the Titans came together and formed one large land for everyone to live peacefully."

"I agree with you there, Nia," Rex lightly tapped her shoulder.

"Touch me like that again and I'll scratch your face off," she snarled but teased knowing that she was only messing around.

The two laughed at their teasing. Meanwhile, Shulk noticed a tombstone just to the side of where the group stood. Once he got a good view of it, he had to know what happened.

"Shulk," Fiora called to her lover. "Something wrong?"

"It's just that tombstone over there," he said before walking towards the aforementioned object. Soon the rest followed, most of them knew why there was a tombstone in the area. Shulk examined the inscription and wanted to know more about it. "Who's Vandham?"

There was a brief silence among the citizens of Alrest, especially Rex. Once he saw the expressions of his allies, Shulk realized that the deceased individual had a connection to them. He felt a bit guilty for bringing up Vandham. To be fair, the Homs did not know who he was, and his curious mind got the better of him.

"Vandham is a leader of the Urayan Garfront Mercenaries," Nia explained. "He was a large and robust man but had a good heart."

"Sounds like Vandham was a humble man," Shulk noted.

"He was," Rex said with a slight smile on his face. "Vandham taught me about the world and the war we fought before. He was like a father figure to me, teaching me more about Core Crystals, learning to fully utilize my tools in battle, and telling me to fight my own war."

"I'm sorry that this had happened to you, Rex," the Homs expressed empathy and sadness.

"It's alright," the salvager smiled, trying not to think back to Vandham's death. "He didn't die in vain. Vandham bought time because he wanted us to escape from Malos and Torna."

"He was willing to sacrifice himself for everyone else to escape," Pyra said before covering her Core Crystal with her right hand.

There was brief silence to honor Vandham's death and venerate the good deeds he had done for Uraya. Afterward, Rex had a good amount of things he planned out for Shulk, Fiora, and Elma while they were in Alrest. He turned to his foreign allies with a smile on his face.

"We still have a lot for you guys to explore around, so let's get to it."

"Right behind you, Rex," Shulk nodded.

"Let's set off for a new adventure!" Fiora cheerfully exclaimed.

"I cannot wait to experience the many things Alrest has in store for me," Elma nodded as well.

The group departed from Olethro Ruins and traveled south towards the capital of Uraya, Fonsa Myma. Nothing in the city appeared to be unusual: people roaming around, eating at restaurants, watching amazing theatrical plays by Cole, or socializing in public areas. Life was going well for the folks in Fonsa Myma. This was an opportunity for Shulk, Fiora, and Elma to tour around the city to get a small glimpse of life in Alrest. They were walking down the stairs in the Commercial District passing through the many stores on their left. Next, Rex wanted to guide his new friends to a shop just opposite of the multiple ones on their end. They passed through the Sprintsy Sweets shop and found a bookstore down the stairs.

"Woah," Shulk was amazed to see a variety of books on the stand. "Even though there aren't many different titles, there's a lot you can learn from them all."

"I figured you would be interested in these sorts of things, so that's why I brought you here," Rex explained.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Rex," Pyra smiled at her Driver.

"I know there isn't much to see," the salvager chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"I can see that," the Homs acknowledged. "Reading these back in Colony 9 will make it a good pastime for me."

"Don't tell me you're going to get all of the books they have here?" Fiora asked though it sounded like she knew her boyfriend was going to get all the texts the store had.

"I wouldn't see why not," he smirked, knowing full well that Fiora knew his intentions were. "There's so much to learn about Alrest and what better way to do it by reading literature?"

"I suppose," she shrugged before poking a little fun at her lover. "That's very typical of you, Shulk: spending time inside the lab, making machines and reading to learn new materials."

"That's not true," he played along. "I was going to read these books outside."

"Very clever," she scrunched her eyes and was slightly unamused. "Well, I won't be petty if you decide to get those books. Actually, I'm quite interested as well."

"You two don't have any currency that Rex and the others hold to purchase those books," Elma pointed out a flaw in their plan.

Shulk and Fiora laughed while embracing their little embarrassment. It did make them wonder how they were going to get the funds to purchase multiple books of text. They did not need to think any longer because Rex was willing to pay the books for them.

"I can pay for the books," Rex said to the two Homs.

"Are you sure?" Shulk was a bit surprised to hear that the Driver of the Aegis was willing to do so.

"I don't see why not," he smiled. "I have lots of money, so spending a bit on you two won't hurt it that much."

"Thank you, I really appreciate your generosity," Shulk could not thank Rex enough for his kindness.

"Don't sweat it," the salvager placed his arms on his hips with a precious smile. "Get whatever you like."

"What are you going to get Shulk?" Fiora asked in an amusing tone.

Her boyfriend scoped around, pondering on what texts he was planning on getting. Shulk placed his right hand under his chin, musing over the various titles that were intriguing to him. There were only four different books with each one having many copies. It ended up becoming difficult for him to even decide which one to choose. Although Rex was willing to pay at any cost, Shulk felt that he should get only one book just so he did not want Rex to spend too much money.

"It's a hard call," he said, still unsure what to get.

"Come on, Shulk," his girlfriend pretended to be annoyed by his indecisiveness. "We don't have time which books to choose. I want to see more of Alrest."

"I do, too. Sometimes, I get myself into choosing a few things that interest me," Shulk then had to decide quickly because he honestly would rather travel other parts of Alrest instead of deciding on a text of literature. "Addam's Love and War seems like a fascinating book to start off reading."

"It's quite a captivating read," Brighid nodded due to Shulk's wise decision. "I find that you will be satisfied with this fine literature."

"I'm looking forward to reading this at Colony 9," the male Homs knew he made a good choice on a book. "Well, Rex, I'm going to go with Addam's Love and War."

"Sounds good to me," Rex picked up the selected text, gave it to Shulk, and paid the owner 2,920 G.

"You really had that much money?" Elma questioned the Driver of the Aegis because she never thought Rex could have that much currency on him.

"An adventure and being a salvager has its perks," he responded with a slightly humorous tone. "You find all sorts of the good treasure in the Cloud Sea."

"The Cloud Sea?" Elma wondered.

"That'll be part of the lovely tour," Pyra responded politely. "There's plenty more of Alrest you guys need to see."

"Now that Shulk got his book, where to next?" Fiora asked since her curiosity was getting to her. Right as she said that, her stomach began growling. Instinctively, she covered her belly and slightly blushed due to her sudden hunger.

"Looks like someone's hungry," Shulk teased his girlfriend with a slight smirk on his face.

"After going through those challenges, I have worked up an appetite. Besides, we get to try out the food in Alrest!"

"I know this may not the best idea to satiate your hunger by providing you with fine exquisite cuisine prepared by the finest of chefs in Fonsa Myma," Zeke began while presenting himself as a flamboyant man.

"So… if Shulk and I can't have a big meal then where would you suggest going?"

"We have a Blade who is a maker of delicious baked goods and pastries just around the corner."

"Like a Patissier?" Elma asked to be sure that was what Zeke meant.

"Precisely," Brighid confirmed the silver-haired woman's question.

"Our Blade, Gorg, makes the finest, softest, and most delicious baked goods that Alrest has ever seen."

"The way you're phrasing it, I really want to try his dishes," the more Fiora thought about it, the more excited she was to try it. "Please tell me that Gorg's pastry shop is nearby."

"It appears that luck plays in our favor," the Tantalese said, which Fiora understood what he meant. "Just follow me and prepare to be on the cloud heavens of the World Tree."

"I cannot wait!" Meanwhile, Shulk was shaking his head but was smiling that his lady was having a good time in this foreign world.

* * *

The group followed Zeke as they headed towards Gorg's pastry shop. The heroes of Alrest knew where the shop was located as they helped the Blade create the bakery. It would be Shulk, Fiora, and Elma's first time meeting another Blade other than the ones they already met. Luckily for them, the walk was not far because all they had to do was walk down the stairs and head towards where the other stores were. As soon as they reached the ground floor, they all turned to their right and saw a lady and a red-haired man with goggles on his head.

"Heya, Gorg," Zeke called to his Blade.

"Greetings, Driver Zeke," the Gorg nodded. "What brings you and the rest here?"

"We have a couple of guests who have never been in Alrest before. You would not believe it because these people are from different universes."

"I wouldn't believe it as you said," the Blade was a bit interested to know the guests that were with the Tantalese Prince and the others. He noticed three individuals whom he had never seen before. Strangely enough, Gorg could tell that they were not from Alrest due to their clothing and appearance. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gorg."

"I'm Shulk."

"I'm Fiora."

"The name is Elma."

"It's a pleasure to meet the three of you. Are you three friends with my Driver and his companions?" He placed his right hand on his chest and bowed graciously to the three newcomers.

"I suppose you can say that," the silver-haired woman responded.

"That's fantastic to hear," Gorg said before resuming rolling up some dough into multiple spheres. "So what brings you three to my shop?"

"Zeke here says you make some delicious baked goods, and I want to try them," Fiora said with a bit of excitement in her voice.

"You, my young lady, have arrived at the right time," he had finished up the final touches of his latest batch of baked goods. "I have baked lots today and still much left for me to sell."

"Alrighty!" She cheered already imaging the soft taste of a good baked snack. "What do you have for me?"

"A very popular item is the Neon Cookie," he showed Fiora a decently-sized cookie, which was not much to see. It looked like what a regular cookie would like except there weren't any chocolate chips on it. "Inside a Neon Cookie is mixed with Welcome Cactus, Belloat Grass, and Moonbeam Banana. It may not be visually appealing, but I assure you that the Neon Cookie is popular for a reason among Alrest."

"If it's the go-to choice, then I'll try one."

"Normally, I would charge you for this, but since you are a friend of my Driver, you are also a friend mine. This one is on the house."

"No way!" Fiora exclaimed. "My day is just getting better and better!"

"Would your friends also like a Neon Cookie as well?" Gorg held out two, wanting both Shulk and Elma to take one as well.

"It doesn't hurt to try new food in another world," the male Homs shrugged his shoulders but was quite eager to try out a Neon Cookie. He took one and ate it with Fiora. His eyes widened as he chewed the cookie as fast as he could before swallowing it all. "This is really delicious!"

"Very tasty!" Fiora happily said as she slowly ate her cookie, enjoying every bite until it was all gone. "The ingredients seem strange, but they all blend together so well. Definitely one of the best desserts I've had in a long time."

"That's great that you enjoyed the Neon Cookie," Gorg was genuinely content to hear the positive reactions from Shulk and Fiora.

"Elma, you got to try this," she took the other cookie and tried to hand it to the silver-haired woman.

"Well, I don't see a reason not to try one," Elma gave a small smile before taking a cookie and biting a small piece. Shulk and Fiora could not figure out Elma's reaction since she was not expressing anything. Once she took another bite, the silver-haired woman looked pleased, which Shulk and Fiora nodded. "This is surprisingly delicious."

"Oh, wonderful," Gorg flamboyantly cheered. "I am glad that my Driver's newest friends are enjoying my Neon Cookies."

"Didn't I say that you three were going to enjoy trying Gorg's baked goods?" Zeke teased the three foreigners.

"I know I was going to like it," Fiora played along with the Tantalese Prince.

"Looks like I found Fiora's favorite spot in Alrest already," Shulk poked a little fun at his girlfriend who had a slight smirk on her face.

"That's not true," she decided to go along with her boyfriend. "I bet you want to find a lab here and build some machines, wouldn't you?"

"If there is one, then I'd be interesting in going," Shulk placed his right finger and thumb under his chin.

"There are loads of places to check out Alrest," Rex told his allies. "We can check them out if you like."

"Oh, wait, Shulk," Fiora suddenly remembered something and looked like it was important. He turned to her, wondering what was on her mind. "Dunban's birthday is coming up real soon, and I need to finish the present I made for him."

"Oh, Bionis leg, you're right," the seer placed his right hand on the top of his hair, realizing that he and Fiora were spending a bit too much time outside of their universe. "I also need to finish my present for him. Rex, everyone, sorry but Fiora and I have to go back."

"I should also make my way back," Elma added. "Even though the time passed here is different in NLA, I don't want to spend any of it here despite wanting to explore more in Alrest."

"That's a real bummer," the salvager was a bit sad to hear that his allies had to leave soon when they arrived in Fonsa Myma not too long ago.

"I do hope we get to meet again soon," Pyra was also a bit unhappy that her new friends had to return to their own worlds.

"Just when I finally got another friend to talk to about anything," Nia frowned and crossed her arms. "We wish Dunban a happy birthday."

"Thank you, Nia," Fiora said. "Don't worry. We'll visit again soon once we're available."

"Well, it was great seeing you three here in Alrest for a bit. Hope you guys visit real soon," Rex stood erect and placed his hands on his hips hoping that his new friends would come back to Alrest eventually.

"We'll look forward to it."

"Do you guys know how to get back?" Mòrag asked the three in case they needed guidance.

"I don't think so," Fiora replied. "We got a good idea about this area. Besides, Shulk and Elma know how to get there."

"Understood. It was a pleasure to meet you three."

"Bye every one," Fiora made her remarks, waving her comrades a goodbye for now.

"It was great meeting you guys," her boyfriend waved as well. "I hope we get to see each other again soon."

"Take care, everyone," Elma bowed her head. "I'll try to visit sometime if I am available."

"Oh yes definitely," Pyra cheered as she placed her right hand on her chest.

"This time we'll have more time to hang out," Rex said, placing his hands on his waist while buffing up his chest. "If you're ever around in Alrest, give us a heads up."

"We will," the Monado Wielder said before he, Fiora, and Elma parted ways with the heroes of Alrest. As they made their way back to Olethro Ruins, the remaining citizens of Alrest did not have much to do now that Shulk, Fiora, and Elma had to return to their homes. They looked at each other, hoping that someone would say something from the awkward silence.

"So…" Rex began. "Should we do something else?"

"Lady Mòrag and I must return to Mor Ardain in regards to the meeting pertaining to the unclaimed territory," Brighid informed the group. She then turned to the Tantalese Princes and his Blade. "Zeke, I presume you are also coming along with us?"

"Now that you said that, I guess I have to," Zeke teasingly responded, shrugging his shoulders. He got strange looks from the Jewel of the Empire and the Gormotti girl.

"We'll be departing right away then," the Flamebringer said as she signaled her Blade, Zeke, and Pandoria. "We'll be leaving immediately. Rex, Nia, Tora, we will meet again soon. Take care."

"Good luck on the meeting you guys," the salvager said with a smile, understanding that they had to attend something important. Once they departed, there remained the Driver of the Aegis, the Gormotti girl, the Nopon mechanic and their Blades. "Well, what should we do?"

"Tora hungry," he had his paws hugging his stomach. "After seeing Shulk, Fiora, and Elma try out Neon Cookie, Tora want to eat big meal like large sums of Tasty Sausage."

"Now that you said that," Nia heard her stomach growling and was a bit embarrassed by it. "I could go for some food right now."

"There's some good stuff around this area so we can check them out," the salvager suggested, which his friends liked the idea and proceeded to do so.

* * *

Meanwhile back at the Land of Challenge, Shulk, Fiora, and Elma had entered the territory from Olethro Ruins. They saw the Nopon Archsage at the center of the land again. Something felt unusual at least from the three's perspective. Elma believed that the Nopon Archsage had something bad to say to them, but she was sure she was being a bit paranoid. All of a sudden, Shulk's eyes suddenly became a light blue, glimpsing something, not in the present timeline.

" _You're that eager to die? Then let me help you with that!"_

" _Humans, such primitive people, I shall kill every single one that gets in my way."_

" _Weak. Weak and pathetic."_

" _I knew I was right about people. You all were never progressing, only regressing back to your barbaric and evil nature."_

" _What choice will you make…? …Will you let him atone your sin?"_

"Agh!" Shulk gasped, shaking his head in shock by what he had just witnessed. Did he really just see a vision because of the Monado that he thought was gone? He hoped that it was just a memory from the past. However, some of the quotes that he heard were foreign. He had never heard those voices before.

"Shulk?" Fiora asked her boyfriend in a worried tone. "Are you okay?"

"It is fine," he lied, trying not to worry his lover. "I just felt a strange shiver, that's all."

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem like it."

"I thought something wrong was going to happen here," he half admitted.

"Friends shouldn't worry about anything," the Archsage said with confidence, turning around to face the three fighters. "I was waiting until friends come to Land of Challenge."

"Is that all?" Elma wondered.

"Friends at Alrest for long time and Nopon Archsage did all errands so am bored until you return."

"We're sorry that we've caused a delay," Fiora apologized. "But we all have to get back to our homes now."

"Worry not," he moved to the side and showed them two portals in front of them. "On the left is Shulk and Fiora's home, the right for Elma."

"Oh wow, thanks," the Homs woman said in a surprising tone. "Well, this is our departure for now."

"It was nice meeting you, Elma," Shulk made his remarks to the silver-haired woman, giving her a handshake.

"It was also nice meeting you both, Shulk and Fiora," Elma nodded, firmly shaking the seer's hand. "Let us meet again soon."

Elma was the first to walk into her portal, returning to NLA. Shulk and Fiora soon proceeded to enter their portal back to Colony 9. The Nopon Archsage was by himself again. He nodded before giving an eerie smirk. It was then that he knew that everyone was back in their respective worlds, giving him time to initiate the task that he had been meaning to do. The little Nopon held an odd, dark-colored sphere no bigger than a dime. He then summoned a rectangular, stone structure resembling a coffin. On the side facing him, there was a small circular slot missing. The hole was exactly the same size of the sphere. The Nopon Archsage slowly inserted the sphere into the slot.

"Let the ritual…begin!" He shouted.

The structure began shaking violently, but it did not faze the Archsage whatsoever. He knew what exactly was going to happen. The sphere began cracking due to the sheer force and power that it was emitting. It was as if the stone structure was absorbing the entire power that the shadow orb had. Suddenly, the sphere shattered and the stone coffin's overlay began to open. The Nopon Archsage covered his eyes with his paws due to the strong brightness the lights emitted. Once the brightness dimmed down, he uncovered his eyes and tried to gaze what had transpired. His wishes had become a reality. Ten familiar figures stood in front of him, giving off dark vibes.

"At last, I've finally done it," the Nopon Archsage boasted in pride, laughing sinisterly as he managed to summon ten mysterious individuals. "I thought this was impossible, but I did it. I can revive the dead. Welcome back…."

The ten figures looked at the small Nopon with ambivalent expressions.

"My Commandments!"


	7. Revival of the Commandments

**Another chapter updated, sorry it took a while, managing both current on-going stories while working a full time job just takes the life out of ya! Anyways, I hope you guys like this chapter. Enjoy :)**

* * *

Chapter 7: Revival of the Commandments

A sinister cackle was heard from the Nopon Archsage. He really managed to bring back 10 villainous people who all came from different universes. Some were glad to have been revived while others were a bit suspicious as to why they were given another chance at life.

"Now I've enjoyed myself for accomplishing such difficult task," the yellow Nopon spoke after tidying himself. "I have brought specifically ten of you back from death for good reason."

"This better not be a waste of my time," one voice that echoed the area. "My purpose is not to be your personal slave. It's a disgrace to my title."

"My lord," a rather slight nasal voice from a blonde man was heard. "We are unsure why we are here, but I can assure that this Nopon seems to be knowledgeable of who you are."

"Well, is that so?" The first voice called to the Archsage in a demanding tone. "Do you know who I am?"

"It's shameful of Nopon Archsage to think of you less than an all-omnipotent being," he responded quite calmly without showing fear.

"Very good."

"I brought you all back for reason," he explained before projecting large holographic images behind him. "You ten are to punish the 5 sinners who violated their sins."

"Is that all?" A sultry yet menacing female voice responded. "Just 5 nobodies that you don't like?"

"Don't get hasty, woman," the Nopon Archsage quickly shut down one of his commandments incorrect assumptions. He revealed the 5 people who had violated the sins that the Archsage was talking about. "I believe these, in particular, you guys certainly remember, right?"

The Commandments saw the projections of the people that the Nopon Archsage knew violated some sort of sins. He could tell that they recognize who they were, especially the few who had strong resentments for those particular individuals. The Archsage simply chuckled because he knew that his Commandments hold strong bitterness for the five people displayed.

"Looks like my revival won't be worthless then," the first echoed voice commented, "Especially with those two in particular who ruined the natural cycle of destruction and recreation."

"We have a score to settle, my lord," the second voice agreed to fulfill his master's wish.

"It's a bit shame that a certain princess isn't a sinner," the female voice said who stood next to the other previous voices. "Holding the blood of such a dirty race while proudly expressing pride of our people is such a dishonor that I had to hold on for so long."

"You guys are all riled up in your own personal desires," another voice spoke to his fellow Commandments. His tone was deep but calm before he crossed his arms. "I wonder how that boy would feel if I were to come unexpected, perhaps even settling the score with the Aegis, too."

"You say we are driven by our desires and yet here you are talking about settling personal issues on your own," the female voice called him out.

"I wasn't criticizing; I was merely stating the actions of your behavior, which I, too, can relate."

"At least we're on the same page," the slightly nasal voice Homs said. He then looked to the rest of his fellow Commandments. "Oy! You guys also cool with this?"

"Yes," heard from an alien who was large but daunting. "I must finish what I could not years ago. That woman shall pay for destroying everything I've had."

"Siding with the humans is truly disgusting," another similar creature to the aforementioned intimidating alien said with abhorrence. "That Elma makes me sick."

"The Monado boy is your concern," the raspy yet maniacal voice shouted. "But I got my eyes on Dunban. I need to even up the score in my favor."

"My Blade is here, but the Blade who killed me is also in the same allegiance as I," a soothing voice was heard yet one would distrust him by his presence. "I prefer to not be associated with him."

"Hmm," his Blade nodded while still crossing his arms. "I can't say I wasn't surprised to hear this. However, I can't let this conflict disrupt the Commandments. So…Jin, you won't try to kill Amalthus again, right?"

Jin remained silent as he somehow remembered the crimes that Amalthus had committed, especially when his army had killed his beloved Driver whom he had been with for 17 years. After several seconds of staying quiet, he finally spoke. "I will not turn my back against the Commandments."

"Very good," Amalthus grinned. "With that settled, I believe all of us Ten Commandments are ready to fulfill the wish that the Nopon Archsage wants."

Everyone else nodded and agreed as they had no objections. They all had previous grudges that were not resolved, so at the second chance of life, it was time for them to end it all.

"Excellent," the yellow Nopon happily said before gazing at his Commandments. He noticed that there were only nine out of ten in front of his presence. "Wait a minute. We missing one more Commandment. Where are you, my 10th commandment?"

The nine looked around them to find the last member who may be hiding from the Nopon Archsage. Despite being certain that he revived 10 people, he only can visibly see that one was missing. Frustrated with this, the Nopon Archsage tried his best to keep his cool and continue on with the objective.

"I'll deal with the last Commandment later," he quickly said before nodding. "It doesn't foil plan."

"Then what are we waiting for?" The raspy voice eagerly said as he sharpened his mechanical claws. "Let's go and interrupt their little party!"

The Commandments rushed to exit the Land of Challenge, but they did not go far as they were stunned by a strange spell that came out of nowhere. Grunts were heard from most of them as they turned to see who was casting magic on them. To somewhat of their surprise, it was the Nopon Archsage who halted them. They were surprised that such a small Nopon could hold 9 different types of people on his own. He wanted his Commandments to cease movement and listen to him. Reluctant but they obeyed their so-called master's demand. Once they did, the Archsage canceled his magic and ordered them to come closer to him.

"Why were you all leaving?" He asked being difficult to decipher what he was actually expressing.

"We're going to punish those sinners that you mentioned," the male alien responded with disdain for Elma shown on his face.

"Unless you don't want us to go after them," a female winged individual pondered which also bewildered her.

"If you all were to go there now, do you really think you all could stand a chance against them?" The Nopon Archsage responded with a question.

"Are you really saying that to me, a God, cannot defeat the likes of mere humans?" The echoing voice said with disgust as he felt that his title was being insulted.

"I never implied it," he simply answered back.

"Your highness," one of the deity's disciples spoke to him. "Perhaps there's a good reason that the Nopon Archsage doesn't want us to go rushing down and fight the sinners. Let us hear him out."

"Very well," he said after thinking about it for a bit, understanding the Archsage's act on stopping his Commandments from doing anything hasty. "You have my undivided attention, Nopon."

"Excellent," he smirked, knowing that his plan was flawless so far. "There good reason why I did not want you Commandments to go to sinners quickly."

"At least explain," Amalthus coldly responded.

"All of you Commandments just been revived. Your powers are drained from battles you died in," that sentence stung most of the members as they remembered how they all were killed in the important fights to accomplish whatever goal they had. Several took it harder due to the sheer embarrassment or showing disdain over the ones who stopped them. The Archsage did not speak for a moment to let his Commandments take some deep breaths before continuing. "I understand you all have bitter memories of that. But Nopon Archsage brought you back for reason. As mention before, all your powers are depleted so you have no strength. If you go now, then they surely defeat you without problem."

Listening to the Nopon Archsage's reasoning did not really make them upset at all. In fact, it made sense to them. The more they thought about it, the more they realize that they really were not a full strength back when they were alive. One could not summon his Ice Elemental Arts, another could not summon his Aegis Monado, and even a God failed to see his visions. Their epiphany caused them to be glad that their master halted them from making a grave mistake.

"You are right, Nopon Archsage," the God revealed. "My powers aren't at full power since I can barely use my visions, a basic power that a God can normally do."

"I can't even summon my weapon," Amalthus' Driver admitted with a small smile on his face. "But I rather wait until I truly feel like an Aegis."

"Agreed as well," Amalthus nodded. "I wonder how we can recover our powers?"

"Nopon Archsage always have answer," he went back to behaving like his old self. "There are two things you all must do before you all ready to punish the sinners."

"Tell us your command, and we shall obey it," the God surprisingly admitted to some of the Commandment's shock.

"The first and obvious one is patience, but it not easy," he said before clarifying more on what he meant on the latter. "Show any frustration during recovery process, you won't be fully recovered until much later. You all must accept that you slowly gaining power again. This is part of 2nd thing: training. The training is very simple. You only test out current strengths that Commandments have. I trust you all to be capable warriors so help each other out. Once everything done, come to me for final check to see if you all are ready to punish sinners."

"Sounds simple enough," Aegis chuckled before giving off an eerie smirk. "We got all the time we need before the fun begins."

"Correct," the yellow Nopon nodded. "It may require time but at your strongest power you can't be stopped."

"I will look forward to that day," the deity spoke with determination to fulfill what he failed to do before his demise.

"But first," he created a black portal behind him and stepped aside. "You all must enter portal."

"Where does this take us to?" Amalthus inquired.

"A realm where you Commandments rest. You will recover your strength fastest this way," he explained. "I also added training modules if you want testing out. Besides, I have strange feeling that the sinners come very soon."

"Is that so?"

"I have belief that they will," he gestured his Commandments to hurry along and enter the dark realm. "Commandments, rest here until your powers are fully restored."

"No objections here," the divine being said before signaling the rest of his allies to walk into the portal.

* * *

The nine Commandments all went into the realm to whether to relax or train until they become ruthless fighters. The Nopon Archsage had a deep sigh of relief because he really did feel anxious that Rex, Shulk and the others would arrive in the Land of Challenge and see their former enemies revived from the dead. Luckily for him, some time has passed. No physical presence was detected, which calmed down the Archsage a bit. However, just when he was about to take a nap, a strange glow was emitting behind him. He knew who it was without even turning back first.

"So you finally decided to show up?" He said to the glowing green mist. "Looks like I did bring back 10 people. Where were you?"

"Apologies," the emerald diamond spoke. "I had to analyze the foreign environment that I was summoned. After assessing the area, I concluded that it was safe for me to stay here. Forgive me for acting in such a manner. I have good reason."

"No, no," the Archsage refuted. "You are here. Nothing else said. But I'm sure the rest of the Commandments wanted to know where you are."

"Where are the rest of the Commandments that you are speaking of?"

"That portal you see," he pointed the dark portal where the nine individuals entered in. "They are resting there to restore their powers."

"It would be best for me to stay there then?"

"Nopon Archsage prefer you do that."

"Very well. I will comply as you wish," the mysterious being flew its way into the portal to meet with the rest of the Commandments. By doing so, the Nopon Archsage closed the portal so that no one else could witness it. It was just him by himself with no one else here in the Land of Challenge.

* * *

Back in the world of the new Bionis, Shulk and Fiora stepped back into Outlook Park after their time visiting and meeting Rex, his group, and Elma. The first thing they noticed was that it was still daylight. It was as if time had frozen in their new home while they were away. Seemed unlikely but that was what it felt like to the couple.

"Did anything happen here?" Fiora wondered as she walked towards the edge of the park, overlooking her home and the vast ocean adjacent to it. "It looks like time didn't even go by."

"It is a strange case," Shulk agreed before placing his fingers on his chin to muse over it. "Well, the Nopon Archsage did mention about interrupting the time flow between universes."

"Did he?"

"Yeah. Since we spent not even half a day in that unusual place and Alrest, it's a fraction of a second that has passed here."

"Well, I'm not going to complain if it means we get to hang out with them more and barely anything has passed here," she smiled, knowing that her boyfriend was right about his claim. "But since we're here, what should we do? I'm already bored."

"Hmm," the seer hummed. "How about we head to the beach? It's a nice day to relax there."

"Sounds like a good idea," his girlfriend took some interest. "Let us get our swimsuits first and then we can head over there."

"I also got a fishing rod if we ever want to fish," the blonde man suggested.

"It's been years since I've fished," she reminisced the last time she had done such a thing; it was with her brother and it was an interesting day to them. "I hope I catch some good ones, too!"

"Just don't reel in Piranhaxes or they'll bite," he smirked before walking away seemingly to his house to get his equipment while avoid getting chased by his girlfriend.

"Very funny, Shulk," Fiora said sarcastically before walking in the same direction he was going. "First his poor taste and now this."

Fiora returned to Dunban's house to change into her swimwear and grabbing fishing rods for her and Shulk. Her brother was not present so she assumed he was elsewhere handling some of business. She took her time to change clothes, musing over the fact that she and her boyfriend had traveled to some other universe completely different from they were from. Rather than being here, Fiora preferred to extend her stay in Alrest. The blonde thought lots of time had passed when in Alrest, but knowing that time barely passed in Bionis, she still had plenty of time to complete the present. It was a bracelet with an empty gem slot missing in the middle. Fiora had a Blue Gear Shard that she was trying to cut and trim to perfectly fit the slot. The amount of time to find a decently sized one in the Zaldania Waterfall was stressful but luckily she managed to find one despite it only appearing at night. However, she had to get Shulk to help her find them and in case something had happened.

Once she wore her swimwear and held the fishing rods in her hands, Fiora was ready to go out the door and meet with Shulk at his place. However, her boyfriend beat her to it as he came knocking on her door. She opened the door to see her beloved wearing swim trunks while his upper body was well toned.

"Mmm," she purred. "If only you could show that wonderful body of yours to me all the time."

"Only if you reciprocate," he teased back with a slight smirk on his face. They both laughed at each other to enjoy a bit of time together. "Let me hold the fishing rods."

"I can hold these myself, you know," she played back.

"If you say so," he shrugged not minding if Fiora wanted that. "Anyways, let's make our way there."

The couple made their way down to the beach facing the fallen Titan Bionis up ahead. As they were about to step onto the sand, Fiora happened to notice two individuals on the far left side of the beach just lying together in the sun. Upon seeing this, she elbowed her lover twice to get his attention.

"What's wrong, Fiora?" Shulk wondered.

"Shulk, look over there," she pointed at the two people who were difficult to identify because they were lying their backs on the sand. "Who are they? It's so hard to tell."

"Yeah," the male Homs had to squint his eyes just to see if that could reveal the two individuals' identities. "They're way too far for me to tell who they are, but I think we should leave them be."

"You're right," she nodded before grabbing her boyfriend's hand and walked towards the pier. "Anyways, let's go fishing!"

On the other side where the two individuals that Shulk and Fiora saw, they actually noticed the couple heading towards the pier. They did not want to make any sudden noises to catch their attention. The male slowly turned his head and saw Shulk putting bait on the hook before throwing his reel in the ocean.

"Hey, what's going on? Why are Shulk and Fiora here?" The woman said while her back was still against the towel. "I thought they weren't going to be here for some time."

"We can't let them see us here," the man said, slowly sitting up and trying to leave as quietly as he could.

"I don't get why you don't want them to know about us? It makes sense to tell them about us. They would be happy with us just like we are with them."

"I'm just not ready to talk about it with everyone yet," he admitted while looking down in disappointment. "I'm kind of afraid of how they'll feel about us."

"It's a bit unusual that you feel that way, but I completely understand," she smiled before getting up. "Whenever you're comfortable talking about it, then I'll be ready by your side."

"Glad you understand. Let's get out of here before they catch us."

Fortunately for them, they managed to escape the beach without Shulk or Fiora glimpsing at them, leaving them wondering who could possibly be at the beach during their time.

* * *

Meanwhile back in New NLA, Elma opened her eyes from the pod or simulator. The glass suddenly opened up. She slowly got up and shook her head as if she had been in stasis for a long period. Elma covered part of her head with her right hand, groaning a bit.

"Elma!" Lin called her name, looking a bit worried for her captain. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm alright," the silver-haired woman responded before finally looking at her comrades, Lin and Vandham, in front of her. "That was something. I didn't expect you guys to still be here."

"What are you talking about?" The muscular man questioned in confusion.

"Elma, you just got in there and came out no less than a second!" She responded but was more concerned with her condition.

Elma then suddenly remembered that the Nopon Archsage mentioned something about changing the time flow rate between the Land of Challenge and NLA. "Oh, that's right. I remember that the Nopon Archsage pointed out about time flow."

"What do you mean?"

"Friend mean that Elma spend hours in this simulator and only milliseconds passed here," the small Nopon stated.

"What?! No way!" Lin exclaimed. "Is that even remotely possible?! How could something like that happen?! Seems unnatural if you mean that it was done by a person."

"Nopon Arcshage hold many surprises," he proudly said by having his arms on his side. "Good deal yield good result, would friends not agree?"

"Well, if Elma did spend hours there and only a fraction of second passed here, then I think I can trust your claim," she admitted. "I kinda want to try it out for myself!"

"Aaannd, she's back to her old self again," Vandham rolled his eyes over.

"Friend Elma, how was simulator experience?"

Elma had to quickly think about how to respond to his question because she had a few in her mind that raised suspicions. Thankfully, she kept it concealed before she made her response. "The battle simulator was quite an experience. There were lots of enemies that I've never seen before, so I had to adjust and implement different battle tactics. The environment was foreign, unlike anything I've ever seen in Mira. I recommend this to any of our BLADEs who need to improve and shape up their fighting skills."

"Glad friend enjoy it!" The Nopon cheered with glee. "This simulator is for all you do try."

"What if it breaks?" Lin wondered.

"Let Nopon Archsage know and I fix no charge!"

"Wow! So generous!" She was quite surprised to hear such a response.

"But problem is that simulator needs recharge several minutes before use again. So no overdoing it."

"That shouldn't be a problem!"

"Vandham, we should discuss this with Secretary Nagi and hopefully announce this to our BLADEs," Elma directed at her Colonel.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," he smirked. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go get these lazy sacks back into shape!"

The three had departed leaving the Nopon Archsage by himself. He giggled sinisterly before looking at his simulator pod. "Soon my plan will become inevitable. Nothing will stop me from cleansing the sins of these worlds. Nopon Archsage is also pretty smart to create duplicates to avoid any suspiciousness. I should return and check on my Commandments."

* * *

In the dark realm far separated from the world, the Commandments were living there to restore their powers at full. The shadow mists surrounding the area emitted some sort of high concentrated ether. They were absorbing its content and sure enough it allowed them to regain their powers at a much quicker rate than before. The deity who thought he had replenished a decent amount of power attempted to glimpse into the future to see what could happen. Despite the high levels of ether, he failed to summon his visions.

"Despite all of this ether that the Nopon Archsage somehow managed to obtain, my powers are still nothing to a mere mortal weakling," the god was rather observant instead of upset by this. He knew that the timely process was going to take a while. He just had a small glimmer of hope of a quicker recovery by this miraculous area alone.

"Patience is a virtue," the Aegis commented as he stood still, both arms crossed, and observed the dark realm he was in. "We are in no hurry in taking our revenge on the sinners. The longer we wait for the better. They won't suspect a single thing."

Jin was silent throughout the Commandment's time as he was mostly thinking about other things besides revenge and fulfilling the Nopon Archsage's desires. His mind was drifting off to those thoughts and turned his back away from the group.

"Do not worry about Jin," the Aegis continued. "As long as I am by his side, he'll be obedient to the Commandments."

"That's the last thing I want happening to me," the large alien grunted remembering the time when the human who was his spy turned his back against him in his final battle. "But I'll still be onto that man."

"Ugh, what do we even do here?" The female alien became impatient and felt the urge to do something and not get bored. "I don't want to stay here and do nothing."

"What do you say and we do some sparing?" The man with the metal claws asked while showing them off to her to intimidate her.

"About time. Let me see what you got," she excitedly responded.

"There's a training area over there. Let's not make a mess when our comrades are right here with us."

"Fair," she agreed before walking to the practice place with her partner.

"Commandments," the god spoke to them as if he was their leader. "For the time being, until we regained an adequate amount of our powers, we shall remain here and freely do as you please."

All had agreed without opposition since there was really nothing to do with their powers nearly depleted.

Just when they all were about to disband, for the time being, a green light appeared behind them. Assuming that it was the Nopon Archsage who summoned a portal to visit them for a purpose, they were not all concerned except for the deity himself. It took a few seconds before they all realized that the Nopon Archsage was not going to be in the dark realm. Most of the members had no idea what the emerald light was while a few recognized it. Let's just say that they were absolutely shocked and quite distraught by this mist-like object.

"Don't tell me he's our 10th Commandment," the sultry voice said with disgust.

"Oh, it's confirmed alright," the other disciple nodded with displeasure. "After all, this place is for Commandments only. The Nopon Archsage wouldn't allow anyone else to be here, so it must be him. Of all people chosen, why him?"

The green light soon was transforming into a physical manifestation of an individual. It confirmed the god's speculation of who it might be. He merely chuckled, hard-pressed that he came back, too.

"So, he also brought you back to life? I'm not sure why but I suppose an elite group of Commandments wouldn't be one without a very powerful figure such as yourself on our side. Why don't you introduce yourself to the Commandments-"

The green light became a Homs figure with silver hair and eyes, a key around his neck as a necklace, and wearing a blue jacket with black markings surrounding it. He gave off a vacant smile and placed his hands in his pocket. He finally spoke first, "Greetings fellow Commandments and Zanza. So you all require my assistance?"

"Alvis."

* * *

 **GASP! Surprise on the 10th Commandment! Don't worry I have a good reason why he was selected. Anyways, some questions for you guys if you like to answer in the reviews:**

 **1\. Who do you think was at the beach with Shulk and Fiora?**

 **2\. List who you think are the 10 Commandments**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! See ya on the next one**


	8. The Commandments' First Meeting

**Hey everyone. Sorry for delaying again. Lots of personal things I had to handle while working at a job that took all of my time did not help me in the slightest. Hopefully, things will be different around this time. This chapter isn't much, but I hope you guys enjoy the chapter! :)**

* * *

Chapter 8: The Commandments' First Meeting

"Alvis?! Of all people you could've revived, it had to be him?!" Zanza furiously hollered at the Nopon Archsage despite him not being in the Commandments' residence.

"I have a good reason for choosing Alvis," the Nopon Archsage calmly answered. "Alvis prove to be good asset to the team."

"How can he be a good asset when he disobeyed me?!" The divine entity was unable to accept the reality in front of him. "I recall him allowing to grant Shulk a power that befell me!"

"I recall only guiding Shulk on choosing his own path," Alvis corrected him with an expression that seemed difficult to decipher.

"I should have disposed of you a long time ago," Zanza attempted to summon his Monado but it failed. He tried creating a shadow ball of ether to shoot at the seer. His attempt became futile when it dissipated. "What?! Who dares to disrupt me?"

As it turns out, the Archsage had destroyed Zanza's ether ball since he realized that none of the Commandments were capable of dissolving his power. Alvis could not do it because he was only in his physical form for a short amount of time and had no intention of fighting back his former master. He merely chuckled at the sight of a deity being in a weak state. Zanza gave him a cold, frightening stare which the seer was not intimidated by.

"Do not violate rule! It hinders recovery and halt my plan," the Nopon's voice was a bit aggravated yet calmed over the situation. "All of you are here to work together, not baseless bickering!"

"Rule?" Malos repeated one of the Archsage's words. "Now we got to follow these rules like we're kindergarten?"

"Poor comparison," the yellow Nopon responded, laughing at the Aegis' comment. "By rules, I mean two things: one, all of you must lay personal conflicts aside and respect each other as teammates. Two, you all are given unique Commandments."

"I actually was curious to see how the Commandments would function since you keep talking about it," Luxaar pondered, covering his chin with his left hand. "Is it something unique among all of us?"

"Correct," the Archsage confirmed. "I have give each of you special power of Commandment. However, it don't come easy."

"What do you mean by that?" Lorithia inquired an answer since she believed this was too good to be true. "This all sounds like a huge scheme."

"You better explain yourself there Nopon Archsage," Dickson crossed his arms and slyly grinned.

"I expected fellow Commandments to have suspicion for Nopon Archsage's words," he sounded unsurprised to hear that the villains act skeptical of being granted unknown power. "Fear not, my explanation will eliminate your concerns."

"Well hurry up then, we're waiting to hear what these commandments will provide us with," Malos impatiently said while smirking at the thought of learning his new additional power.

"Very well," the Archsage cleared his throat before beginning to speak. "Each of you are given a special type of ability with Commandment given to you. There are 10 commandments: Piety, Pacifism, Reticence, Patience, Faith, Truth, Repose, Purity, Selflessness, and Benevolence. Each of these has own rules to follow. You must not turn against your commandment."

"So each Commandment has it's own unique ability?" Luxaar wondered just so it made sense to him.

"Correct, Luxaar of Truth."

"Did you just say Luxaar of Truth?" He had his eyes wide open, surprised to hear that he was given a Commandment in such casual talk. "So that's my Commandment."

"Well now I'm curious," Lorithia whined with feign. "Then what's my Commandment?"

The rest of the villains besides Mumkhar and Ryyz who were still sparing became curious. It appears that Mumkhar was having the advantage but she was still persisting.

"Now for the rest of you, I chose these Commandments specifically for each of you. The Commandment of Piety, it belongs to Zanza," the divine entity merely chuckled from his gifted power.

"Not surprising for a god to receive such fitting power," he said in a prideful manner while crossing his arms and laughed.

"He's quite the arrogant one," Malos quietly spoke to himself but loud enough for Jin who was adjacent to him to hear.

"…"

"Still don't want to talk?" He lifted his arms out before crossing them. The Aegis walked up closer to the Paragon of Torna while facing the opposite of where Jin was looking. "It's alright if you don't. It's better this way."

"Thank you…" Jin responded in a monotone. He was gazing downward as if he was lost in thought. In reality, the white haired Blade had retained his old memories. Those recollections were worth over five hundred years of joy, sorrow, anguish, hatred, isolation, depression, and closure. However, despite recalling those vivid memories, something was bothering him. His current thoughts were not about his somewhat previous life; it was about the present. Why was he revived? In fact, he was not supposed to be able to reminisce any memories he shared with the ones he loved. How could this all happen?

"Something is on your mind. I can tell," Malos had a small smile on his face.

"…"

"Still unwilling to talk huh?" He was a tad disheartened yet expected Jin to not answer. Malos turned away to look at his fellow comrades.

"…Let's talk after this meeting…alone," the Paragon finally answered, which the Aegis was pleased to hear.

"Sounds like a plan…partner," he grinned again after hearing his friend's voice.

"You two," the Nopon Archsage upsettingly called to the Aegis and the Paragon of Torna. "Is something you two need to share?"

"No, just some regular talk with my friend Jin about our enemies," he stretched the truth in case the Nopon was onto them. "We won't interrupt your speech. Please do proceed."

"Thank you," the Archsage took a moment to remember what he was talking about before a lightbulb sparked his head. "Nopon Archsage remember that divine Zanza hold Commandment of Piety. This means that anyone who defy or turn back on him will be forced to serve him."

"This newly granted power is already taking for my liking," the enjoyment of coercing innocent living beings to obey him was ever present in his expression. He slowly balled his right hand into a fist, reminding himself that he will fulfill his agenda in his old world. "Soon, the destruction and recreation of my world shall be recognized."

"We will do whatever it takes to reach that goal, Lord Zanza," Dickson nodded as he, too, was in compliance with the deity's plan.

"As long as immortality is on the line, I surely love the idea," Lorithia sinisterly said before remembering her demise.

"Your desire will be granted once my powers return," Zanza responded.

"Before any of you interrupt me again, I must finish saying who has Commandments," the Archsage was annoyed with his villains talking over him despite his tone not displaying how he actually felt about it. "Do not speak over me or you will be dead again."

"Oh, we don't want to cause any discomfort for you, Nopon Archsage," the High Entia spoke as if she was treating him like a child. "We'll certainly not take control of the conversation until you are finished."

"Proceed on," was all Zanza said.

"Good. Now then, the next Commandment I name is Lorithia of Benevolence," she liked the Commandment she was given mostly because of the name. "With this Commandment, anyone who displays any hatred towards anyone, don't matter who, will be rendered weak."

"Oh, quite the ability bestowed upon me," Lorithia knew she was going to abuse her power. In fact, she already had an idea towards a certain girl. "If I had this power back in the Bionis Interior, I would have easily killed those impure pests."

"Next is Dickson of Reticence. This Commandment is tricky to understand. Basically, this one is based off to not use a divine lord's name in vain. But Reticence means you are reserved but anyone who expresses hidden emotions will be silenced."

"Doesn't seem useful against those brats," the Homs said, feeling a bit disappointed of his ability.

"But I compensate," hearing that intrigued Dickson. "I grant you powers to render healing ineffective in your presence. There is another power you have but use unwisely will cause bad things."

"The more I think about, my Reticence Commandment could silence those who have concealed feelings that could cause tension between people," he pondered after contemplating about his abilities further. "It has it uses, but I'm curious to know what this other power I have been given that's dangerous if I don't use it well."

"I mean if you cannot control completely, Dickson will put himself in bad situation."

"I see. I wonder what it is."

"It is basically switching two places."

"Oh ho, even better," he had a smirk that revealed darkness in his heart. "If I put myself in the right position, this could quite be interesting."

"So far these Commandments have been much grander than expected. I guess we, rather I, underestimated you, Nopon Archsage," Zanza admitted.

"There's more," the nopon responded with a hint of contentment in his voice. "Your friend, Mumkhar, has the Commandment of Faith. Those who show doubt or no faith in something dear to them will inflict blindness."

"You hear that, Mumkhar?" Dickson called out to his former brother-in-arms. "You have the Faith Commandment, which is quite spectacular to know."

"Yeah, yeah I hear," the Homs said, not caring about his Commandment and rather his own physical strength. "Come on, lady. You call yourself a fighter? I fought brogs better than you."

"Piss me off again and…" Ryyz grabbed one of Mumkhar's claws and kneed him right in the groin, causing him to stumble to his knees. She then forcibly grabbed his hair and pulled up to her face. "You're lucky that I didn't rip off your beloved manhood."

"You got the fire; I respect it," he praised her since he had not felt this exuberant in a fight since his battles in Valak Mountain and Galahad Fortress.

"If you're trying to be all nice to me, it isn't working," the Ganglion girl threw him on the ground and walked away.

"Well, since they are done with argument, Ryyz has Commandment of Purity," the Archsage continued. "Such impure and immoral thoughts and actions in front of your presence shall be punished by becoming hallucinated."

"Oh, so I can bring out the worst kinds of thoughts and actions of people by myself?" Ryyz was intrigued by her Commandment.

"Don't be sure."

"What does that mean?"

"Before I answer, I must declare other Commandments."

"Ugh, just make it quick," she scoffed.

"Luxaar, you are the Commandment of Truth. Anyone who lies or manipulates you will be paralyzed."

"Ah, a very powerful ability for me to take," he calmly nodded. "This will make reaching our goal inevitable.

"Malos, you are the Commandment of Patience. Those who steal will have their sanity robbed of them."

"Doesn't seem much use since our enemies are rather good people," the Aegis said yet was not disdained by his power. "We'll just see about it."

"Jin, you are the Commandment of Repose. I be honest; it was hard to figure out how to grant power for you, so the Commandment is yours."

"So he gets nothing for his Commandment?" Malos spoke with disgust, feeling somewhat sorrowful that Jin presumably got the short end of the stick. "You have to at least accommodate some sort of ability to him."

"I do not care for it," the Tornan Blade despondently said. His eyes matched the tone of his voice.

"But Jin, are you sure?" The Aegis was a bit surprised to hear his response yet anticipated Jin's type of answer.

"I made my decision."

"Talk about being such a downer," Ryyz quietly scoffed and crossed her arms.

"Understandable Jin, but I did give you something as replacement," the nopon continued. "However, this is something only between you and me, so we talk another time."

Jin was absolutely silent. A mask that he used to wear appeared on his left hand. No innate reaction was seen from him. He merely placed it on his eyes just like he used to do. It was bringing back the memories he reminisced the times he spent with a crimson haired Tornan woman who he shared for 17 years. The significance of that mask to hide his identity from thieves who wanted to take him away from his Driver. He accepted that he needed to never reveal his true self even if it meant to go into hiding and changing his true aura. However, knowing the pathogen who haunted Lora for years was forever. But experiencing the devastating loss of Lora and the torment he had to endure for centuries engendered him to become even more silent. Beneath the mask concealing his sorrow, Jin was rapidly breathing without anyone noticing. Suppressing those vivid memories was something he was used to but each time they were pounding his mind, the Blade would express various emotions that he could not control. He tried to walk away just to be by himself but Malos prevented from doing so.

"And now the final Commandment. Alvis, while you may have tension among some here, you provide of use for all of us," the Homs figure had a vague expression near impossible to decipher. "You will be given Commandment of Selflessness. With this power, no selfish desires shall be attained among this group. You will only abide by pursuing the agenda of the Commandments. If you are caught trying to do things on your own, you will be forced to obey under my power."

"Isn't that a bit too authoritarian for this group?" Luxaar expressed his concern that Alvis was given extra supervision just to maintain the order of the Commandments. "He should be able to freely act on his own accord and fulfill your wishes."

"Nearly half of Commandments have conflict with Alvis of Selflessness," the Nopon explained. "To ensure that no further problems happen, I must provide him restrictions. That way, this powerful team will succeed my desire."

"Understood," the Ganglion nodded while still concerned about his fellow Commandment was given unfair treatment in his eyes. Despite that, Luxaar refused to question any more of his Archsage's abilities, believing that doing so will further complicate the group.

"I understand the concerns of what I've done against several Commandments here back in my world," Alvis stated while keeping a vague expression. "Because I am now part of the Commandments, I am willing to fulfill the Nopon Archsage's agenda."

"Very good. I know I made good choice of selecting you as part of Commandments."

"Say the word and I will follow."

"It's a good thing that Alvis finally is paying his dues to us and lord Zanza," Dickson lighted up a cigarette and took a smoke. "If only our powers can say the same…"

"Time will be our most efficient method as long as we are here," the Selflessness Commandment gave advice, reminding them that patience is important.

"Sucks that you got a point there, but I ain't gonna budge."

"Now that all the Commandments have been assigned," the Archsage continued on. "There is one more thing I must add. You must not violate your own Commandment so be careful. Oh, also, you will not be inflicted by other Commandments. So be happy that I gave you such privilege. Any objections?"

No one said a word. The void was silent for a brief stint before the Archsage interpreted it was having no objections to his commands.

"Excellent. I will be away for a moment to see if enemies will return to Land of Challenge. Do not leave this place until I say you are ready."

With that, the nopon's voice could not be heard and returned to the Land of Challenge. The Commandments knew more about their powers. Most, if not all, were delighted to utilize their abilities once they have their powers restored. As of the current situation, they did not have anything to do, which was going to make them impatient.

"Welp, I'm already bored as shit, so who wanna throw hands at me?" Mumkhar gestured his hands to his fellow comrades to fight him. In reality, he was specifically wanting to challenge a certain someone.

"Oh, please," Ryyz scoffed yet was pleased. She walked past the former Colony 9 resident and tapped his left shoulder. "Just try to beat me if you can."

"Oh, I will," he smirked before his mechanical claws appeared from his hands. Mumkhar swiftly charged at her before the Ganglion girl ducked and swept his legs. "Rgh, should've expected that."

"Well, why didn't you? Fucking idiot," she was enjoying herself messing around with him.

"I'm just getting started!" He performed a kip up and retaliated as if him falling on his back did nothing on him.

"While those two occupy themselves with that, let the rest of us formulate a plan on invading different worlds and eliminating our enemies," Zanza suggested.

"I could not agree any more, my Lord," Dickson complied without issue along with Lorithia. "It is best to organize everything to maximize our outcome."

"Precisely and this time it will not fail," the deity confidently spoke before quickly staring at Alvis.

"We should keep our distance from Ryyz and Mumkhar," Luxaar suggested. "I prefer to have some silence in discussing our plan and not those fools shouting each other."

"Well, it seems they get along already," the High Entia disciple responded.

"As long as it does not damage the Commandments, I have no objections."

"Malos, will you participate?" Zanza asked the Aegis.

He crossed his arms and smirked. "I wouldn't mind joining along and listening to your scheme."

"I assume this plan will also allow me to pursue my own desires," Amalthus said in a refined and calm tone.

"Once our plan puts us in a favorable position, do what you will," the Commandment of Piety answered.

Malos turned to Jin who was away from the rest of the Commandments and sat up alone in the dark realm. The Aegis felt sympathy for the Blade and wanted to talk him.

"What to do with that depressed fool?" Luxaar crossed his arms. "He will be of no providence if he acts like that."

"Hold up now," Malos intervened. "Jin went through a lot of hard times in the 500 years he lived before dying. He still holds those anguish feelings and it's hard for him to let go. I understand him. It's best to leave him be for the time being."

"Just relay the plan to him once we settled it here."

"That was what I going to do regardless."

" _I don't know what Malos and Jin are thinking, but I will not let them prevent me from achieving my goal in Alrest,"_ The Indol man thought as he cautiously was keeping eye on the two.

As the discussion for the Nopon Archsage's conquest began, Jin had many questions on his mind to the current situation. Everything seemed cloudy to him. He was able to remember his past despite having been dead. There were just things he had no answers to and could not help but be cautious of the Commandments.

"I can tell there's a lot on your mind, Jin," a mysterious voice called to the Blade as he sat next to him.

"…"

"I know, I know," he plead guilty just to build rapport with him. "You are aware of the actions and consequences I've caused to some Commandments in the past. I cannot deny that the occurrences from my world led to the inevitable defeat of Zanza and his disciples. However, you are among the most unique out of all the Commandments here."

"Why are you telling me this?" Jin asked in monotone yet hinted a bit of bewilderment for himself. He stared straight into the abyss of the dark realm.

"The Nopon Archsage would prefer if all the members of his Commandments were to develop rapport. In doing so results the group to being respectful of each other and carry on the task our leader desires. Wouldn't you agree that this is the proper method of achieving not just his goal but our own personal wishes?"

The Paragon of Torna had to contemplate Alvis's words. Part of him thought it was necessary to form trusting relationships among his comrades despite not knowing some of them and abhorring one of them. On the other hand, there was something odd about Alvis, according to Jin's thought. A mystifying aura was sensed through this strange Homs. The Blade could not figure out exactly what sort of ulterior motive he may be plotting. Yet, a subtle feature was the impossible reading of Alvis's expression. He could be hiding something underneath that enigmatic Homs. It was difficult to truly understand him. Jin was no exception.

"It isn't fair for me to inform you to be comrades with the Commandments while you are attempting to understand everything that had transpired," he stood up while Jin was still staring off to muse. "Ultimately, it is your decision if you want to make friends with this group or just carry on the orders of the Nopon Archsage. Do consider what I've said while you ponder over everything. There is a reason why you are given a second life. This is an opportunity that will unlikely repeat itself. Every choice you make matters from here on out."

Jin was left even more questions than just minutes ago. Just what was Alvis trying to do? Was he helping the Paragon of Torna? Or was he using him for some unspoken motive? He shook his head and resumed thinking over everything since he was revived.

" _What was Alvis trying to pull?"_ Malos pondered. He was rather focused on the interaction between Jin and Alvis instead of listening to the group plan. _"It better not be something dirty; otherwise I would have to-"_

"Malos of Patience," Zanza bellowed at the Aegis. "You are understanding everything that was spoken of this meeting, correct?"

"Welp, sorry about that, my mind was rambling on, losing my focus," he responded coolly, which received disappointed looks from the Commandments in the meeting. "Apologies. Won't let it distract me again."

"You are lucky that you have an easy assignment or we would have had an unpleasant start," the god showed leniency to let Malos off the hook for now. "Let's dismiss this meeting for now. There are still preparations before initiating this plan forward."

All nodded in agreement and went off to venture off to this widely spaced realm with nothing else to it. Malos immediately walked towards where Jin was sitting. The Aegis wondered where the Commandment of Selflessness was located. It was not long before he noticed him laying on his back, hands on the back of his head, and crossing his right leg over his left leg. He was resting. A man with unknown power was just lying down on his back and relaxing. Malos found that unsettling. He shook his head and sat down next to the Commandment of Repose.

"Hey, Jin," he called to his friend.

"…"

"What did you and Alvis talk about?" His mind was thirsting for information about the Selflessness Commandment. "It wasn't anything like going behind our backs, was it?"

"…"

"Your silence isn't helping answering my question but I'm not surprised by it either," Malos shrugged his shoulders before sighing. "Maybe I'm overreacting a little bit. I guess I'm worried about you, Jin."

"Alvis told me some things," Jin finally spoke.

"Well, tell me then. What did Alvis talk to you about?"

There was still time before the Commandments begin their conquest on New Bionis, Mira, and Alrest. This is the beginning of the Nopon Archsage's reign of terror.


	9. The First Assault

Chapter 9: The First Assault

The morning rose in the new Bionis. Shulk had nothing on his schedule, so today was a free day. He felt like he needed some productivity to ease his body and mind. As a result, the blonde boy marched to his new lab located in the basement of his new house. The interior design resembled his old laboratory: his work desk on the lower right corner to overview the blueprints of his creations, whatever the mechanical contraptions on the opposite side, and lastly the very center where the Monado used to be placed. It felt like walking on memory lane. Shulk recalled the countless memories where he spent his time deciphering the hidden powers that the Monado once stored.

"It's actually been some time since I've been here," he muttered to himself. A little smile shown from his lips. "Ever since Dunban, Fiora, Reyn, and I built this lab for my house, I hardly use it."

At the center, the Homs noticed that nothing was placed on the holder. He tilted his head and widened his eyes by a bit. His lab now served a new purpose.

"Well, it's time to change things up here a bit," he chuckled as he walked to his desk. On it, there were large papers, various types of pencils, and different measuring tools for possible weapon development. "Hold on, I just have one problem: I don't know what to create."

Shulk had to think hard on this unproductive morning for him to succeed with his plans. Nothing really sparked.

"Man, if I can't think of a good idea, then- "

Before he could finish his sentence, he heard footsteps coming down to his lab. Shulk did not panic since he knew who would have entered his abode.

"Come on, Shulk, there's a world out there to explore and you're going to spend it on being in this place?" A voice he instantly recognized as she walked and sat next to him.

"Today I felt I needed to be productive, so I thought I should be here and try to create something."

"Like a weapon?"

"I'm not sure," he leaned back on his chair. "There hasn't been much need for weapons here, just monsters should they interfere with the people's lives."

"And it stays that way," Fiora firmly said. "Ever since Zanza was gone, every day felt peaceful and calming as it should be without any unnecessary fights."

"It feels great," he moved his head back so he looked at the ceiling. "Who knew that we get to meet new people outside our world?"

"Oh, I already miss them," the thought of meeting their friends in Alrest and Mira again was something they want to do again. "Hey, we should surprise Rex and his friends in Alrest."

"Now that's something I can get behind," Shulk was more than excited to explore Alrest and do whatever he can. "It probably beats making something from this lab."

"You can't go back to that time when you always are here figuring out the Monado," she pointed out.

"I won't," he reassured her. "Those days are long gone. I only came here to make some use of this lab since it's now in my house."

"That's true and you were keen on having it when we built your house," his girlfriend then grabbed a drawing pencil and a ruler. "Then let's get creative!"

"I just need an idea," he started musing on what to draw.

"Here's another sheet of paper for you while I make preliminary drawings for you," she smiled at her boyfriend.

"Thanks, Fiora, you're awesome."

"You're a sweetheart, Shulk. Don't ever change," the female Homs began to sketch whatever idea popped up in her head. She sketched a long line upward before drawing down like a parallel line. The gap between the two lines were fairly wide. At the top, there was downward concave of the line, which meant it was a continuous line. Shulk was curious to know what Fiora was trying to create. He took a quick peak.

She noticed from her peripheral vision and covered her sketch. "No peaking, Shulk! Focus on your work!"

"I just wanted to see what you were drawing," he answered. "You look like you knew what you were drawing. I bet it looks great."

"Well, it's only the start," she still was not going to reveal her content. "Just don't steal my work, okay?"

Her wink made Shulk chuckle. "I won't. I haven't figured out what I want to create yet."

"It'll come to you. I'm sure of it."

Unlike his girlfriend, Shulk had a difficult time brainstorming whatever came into his mind. He needed a concrete idea before materializing that visualization into the paper. After an hour of preliminary sketches, Shulk and Fiora were ready to present what they have drawn. Shulk felt a bit uneasy considering that Fiora had a stack of paper while he did not have much on him.

"I can't wait to see what you have," she excitedly said, slamming her papers on the desk. "I may have thought too much."

"It's like you wrote a book," he initially was daunted by the amount of paper his girlfriend used.

"Let me show you what I've thought!" She presented one of the stacks. "We haven't been getting that much fish lately, so I thought of a fishing rod that detects where a school of fish can be nearby. All you have to do is place the tip of the rod in the water and it'll scan the range. Once you find fish, then boom! Lots of fishes you can find and reel in!"

"That can resolve the fact that we don't go out into the ocean far enough to catch fish," he placed his right finger and thumb on his chin.

"Well, that's only a part of it."

"Only part of-"

"Colony 9 isn't necessarily the primary place for boating BUT by building a few and with some practice, it'll significantly help our fishing problem."

"With that information, it's a great idea to help our supply of fish," he nodded. "But it's not the only thing you thought of."

"I have plenty of others," she presented another blueprint. "Lately, the residents here have concerns with so many Nopon migrating to our colony. As a result, they don't have much space to fit in. I propose we build a nice, large house for them to comfortably live in. It'll be a huge project as it'll take a bunch of strong Homs, Machina, High Entia, and Nopon to construct such a thing."

"That would require many materials and money to bring that house into fruition," he liked Fiora's second idea just as much as the first one. "Riki did mention that Nopons from Makna are visiting our new colony quite frequently."

"I do love seeing lots of people coming to the colony and enjoy the calming life we live. Besides talking about our home, I got more stuff to tell you."

"Go on. I like to see more, Fiora."

Shulk's girlfriend showed him her next drawing, which was different from the previous two. "This one is a bit more personal. I was thinking of making a nice watch for Melia."

"A watch?" He tilted his head and furrowed his eyes.

"Melia and I were hanging out the other day. She noticed some Homs wearing watches and was fascinated by those designs. I could tell she wanted to wear one because she really was intrigued that a 'device capable of telling the time of day on a Homs' wrist'."

"Did she really say that? Has Melia really never seen a watch before?" Shulk was just as surprised as Fiora realizing that the High Entia have never thought about creating watches to tell time.

"Surprisingly, yes. I know you can fix watches, but I'm certain that you and I can make one."

"With some preparation, I can build a watch in no time."

Fiora giggled at Shulk's unintentional joke but he was unsure why. The male Homs realized that Fiora's stack of paper barely looked different in size, which made him feel a bit bad that he could not produce that many ideas compared to her.

"Fiora-"

"Hey, Shulk."

"What is it?"

"I want to see what you have thought of," her eyes focused on her lover's eyes.

"I know it's minuscule compared to mine, but any idea is still something."

"Well, I only have one," he said with slight embarrassment.

"It's fine, Shulk. I'm sure it must be meaningful for you regardless."

"The idea I drew was building another driver for Reyn," he said before explaining. "I know we don't fight as much now, but I think it would be nice if I created another weapon for Reyn as a way of him always being by my side when we set off to avenge you, Fiora."

Fiora could not help but smile that Shulk had thought of something so profound. "That's very sweet of you to make Reyn another weapon as a token of your friendship."

"It felt right for me to return the favor," Shulk gazed at his drawing before showing it to Fiora. "It took me awhile to draw this to get a good picture of how I want to make it."

Compared to Fiora's drawing, it was like night and day. He had spent so much time on one project that the blueprint was drawn with excellent precision. Every single part of the driver weapon was thought out with every possible feature included.

"Amazing," she was mesmerized by his art. "Mine looks like it was drawn by one of Riki's littlepons."

"Not true," he refuted. "I'd say your drawing is better than a littlepon."

"You tease," she giggled. "Anyways, whatever choice you pick, I'm ok with it."

"Thanks, Fiora. You're awesome," his warm smile was caught by Fiora's emerald eyes. The two leaned closer to each other with their lips inches away from touching.

"Oi! Shulk, you in here? I was wondering if you were bu- "

The individual saw Shulk and Fiora look back who entered the seer's house. They blushed since it was their friend who walked in with the most unfortunate timing.

"Well, I guess you _were_ busy with Fiora," the auburn-haired man crossed his arms and made a sly smirk.

"She's helping me with something, Reyn," Shulk asserted, a bit embarrassed that someone came in while he was sharing a moment with his girlfriend.

"Oh, I can guess what she was helping you with," he could not resist and had to seize it.

"Alright, Reyn, enough with your blabber," Fiora raised her voice to stop him from teasing Shulk.

"Man, you sounded like Dunban there," he stretched his neck before sitting down next to his friends.

She pretended that she did not hear that last sentence. Shulk furtively hid his paper underneath Fiora's pile of drawings without Reyn noticing.

"Anyways, what were you guys doing down here anyways?"

Shulk was hesitant on telling Reyn about his secret gift for him. It would ruin the surprise for a friend. At the same time, he did not want to lie and deceive just to give him a surprise. Given the situation, the Homs had no chance but to quickly respond to Reyn's question.

"Shulk wanted to make something but couldn't figure it out, so we decided to work together on brainstorming ideas," Fiora instantly responded. She nudged her boyfriend's left arm signaling to play along with her words carefully.

"I thought I would at least make some use of this laboratory since it's been hardly used," Shulk answered in which Fiora nodded her head slightly.

"I mean you ain't wrong," he agreed. Reyn noticed a stack of papers in front of the female Homs. "Looks like you guys thought about a lot on this project or something."

"We'll need a good break from this."

"Good thing I'm here," he readied his right arm. "I was going to ask you two if you want to do something today. Ol' Squaretache gave me a few days off, so I thought I could spend those days with you guys."

Fiora suddenly whispered into Shulk's ear, "Hey, Shulk. Do you think that we should show Reyn Alrest? I think it would be pretty fun."

In response, Shulk also whispered to her ear.

"Oi! At least say it out loud. I can't tell what you guys are going to say!" Reyn felt annoyed that they were teasing him back.

"I don't see why not," Shulk murmured. "I want to introduce him to Rex and the others."

"Sounds like a wonderful idea!" She cheered loudly.

"What is this idea you're speaking of? Can I at least hear it?" Reyn asked.

"Fiora and I were thinking that we should take you to this world first. You'll likely not believe it at first."

"Go on," he seemed vastly intrigued since he was not expecting something so grand and new. "I'm listening."

"I think it's better to show it to you rather than explaining it."

"Now that's more like it," he bumped his fists together, exuberant by this new world that Shulk and Fiora supposedly discovered. "Come on then, show it to me."

* * *

Shulk and Fiora escorted Reyn to Outlook Park. Upon reaching there, it looked like the regular park that Shulk, Fiora, and Reyn would go to growing up. So far, he was beginning to be disappointed if whatever his friends were talking about turned out to be a prank.

"Is this some kind of prank?"

"No, no. That's not it at all," Shulk was a bit shocked to see the small light not appearing in front of them. "It should appear here if we wanted to go there."

"Well, it ain't working so far. You sure you weren't imagining things, Shulk?"

"I wasn't and neither was Fiora."

"It's true!" Fiora defended Shulk. "We were walking here one day and a small ball of light appeared out of nowhere, and we just stumbled into some strange universe."

Reyn took several steps forward, looked around the park, and closed his eyes with disappointment. "Well, I don' see this ball of light you're speaking of."

"Reyn, believe us," Fiora was hurt to see her friend feel deceived.

"Man, I can't believe I got worked up over nothing."

"Reyn..."

"Unless you find this ball of light, I'm just gonna workout for now," he walked past his friends without looking at them.

"Reyn, wait," Shulk reached for him but his friend did not stop.

"I'll be at Tephra Cave if you need me for anythiiiiiiinnnnnnnngggggggg!" suddenly the ball of light appeared in front of him and the portal opened causing him to enter before he reacted to it.

"Reyn!" they both shouted his name.

"The portal…"

"Opened almost exactly how we came upon it. Strange," his girlfriend was confused on how that occurred in such a fashion. She tried to wrap her head for that rare occurrence.

"Right now, let's go after Reyn."

* * *

At the land of challenge, the auburn-haired man stumbled before slipping and falling down to the ground. He coughed from the rubble he tasted and held his forehead from the slight pain. Reyn slowly got up and groaned in annoyance.

"Where on Bionis am I? This don' look familiar," he then heard footsteps behind him, so he naturally looked back, only to see his friends. Not only that, he was also flabbergasted by their supposedly new appearance. "Shulk! Fiora! What on Bionis is this place? And uh… you two look different."

"About that," Shulk awkwardly laughed, which confused Reyn. "So, do you."

He had to look at his own arms. Upon gazing at his own body, Reyn realized that he appeared much younger than he actually is. He then placed his right hand on his forehead wrapping everything that was in front of him.

"Does this new world you two keep yappin' about make us look like kids?"

"It could be," Fiora humorously responded.

"It's like this because this universe is created like that," Shulk answered to the best he could. "I know you think this place isn't much, but there's a bit more to it."

"What do you mean?"

Shulk gestured Reyn to follow him to the other side of where they stood. Once they were stood at the spot where the Alrest heroes entered, Reyn noticed another portal just like the one he stumbled onto earlier. His eyes widened because he was excited to witness what might happen next.

"Through this light, it will send us to another world unlike the Bionis," the Homs said before stepping closer to the shining, condensed crystal. "We promised we take you to this place."

Fiora simply entered the light without saying anything, just following him. Reyn only expressed exuberance to travel somewhere completely new with his friends. It reminded him of their days of adventure. That feeling was coming back to him, so he ran into the light, marking his first travels of Alrest.

* * *

"Man! I'm so bored here," the Commandment of Faith whined while laying on his back and looking up at the ominous shadows above him. "How long do we have to stay here?! It feels like being in prison here."

"Patience, my fellow Commandment," said by the Commandment of Piety who tried summoning his vision. "Our powers are still not fully restored yet. In our current state, we'll surely be defeated easily."

"My lord," the Reticence Commandment said. "Are you able to see your visions?"

"Unfortunately, not," Zanza reluctantly said. "It seems that I've underestimated how much strength I've lost. Despite that, my Commandment gives me sufficient power that our plan would have a near success as long as our enemies do not join together."

"Do not take any action yet. It's still too early to decide when we should commence our plan."

"You are right. Who knows how long until we gain enough strength to carry out the mission?"

"I'm not going to be crammed in here forever; I need some fresh air," Mumkhar got up and readied his claws.

"Are you thinking about leaving this place?"

"Not necessarily," he smirked. "I just want to get some exercise that isn't inside some void."

"The Archsage doesn't want any of us to go anywhere," Amalthus of Benevolence said while standing erect and musing about something. "You run the risk of our enemies may spot you. If they do, you'll likely be killed."

"That'll only happen if that Shulk or Dunban see me," he defended himself. "Besides, I ain't that stupid. I don't plan on going back to Colony 9 and try to kill them again alone."

"Then where are you going?"

"From what that alien freak over there said to me, this Mira place don't sound too bad to fuck around. I'll just head over there, kill some beasts, and come right back."

"If you really live up to your word, then I won't stop you. If the Archsage finds out, don't expect us to back you up," Zanza proclaimed.

"Didn't he say we should all work together as teammates? What happened to that, Zanza?"

"Only when it's for the mission, not for personal matters," he calmly replied before trying to see into the future again.

The Commandment of Faith shrugged before cracking his knuckles. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to get some dinner for us."

"Just don't die out there," Ryyz of Purity said while crossing her arms. "How else am I going to kick your ass if you're dead?"

"What's the worst thing I'm going to find in Mira? Shulk? Dunban? HA! They don't know anything about that place."

"Whatever," she scoffed.

"I'll be back," Mumkhar leaped as high as he could. Before reaching the peak, he threw a black orb that transported him to Mira.

"Great, now I got no one else to spar while he's gone," she sighed. "Shit's going to get boring really quick."

"If you're that bored, then you should ask one of us here to spar with you," the Commandment of Patience chuckled while lecturing her. He managed to summon his sword and pointed it at her. "So how about a little spar?"

"You messed with the wrong Ganglion," she was prepared to beat the living crap out of Malos. "You humans disgust me."

"I'm not technically a human, but I do share what you're feeling," he sympathized before giving her a sly remark. "If you do feel that way, how come you didn't with Mumkhar?"

"Shut up!"

* * *

While Malos was enjoying himself with Ryyz during their spar, Jin sat across from the other Commandments. His view was towards them yet he was not looking at them. It's because so many questions clouded his mind. He was not sure why he was given a second life. The more he thought about them, the more it started to hurt him mentally. Everything he loved and hated were vividly pounding on him. The balance between the two was inequivalent. Without any positive influence, Jin suddenly felt anger and hatred for the people who destroyed him. The memories of his painful life began pulsating through his head. He closed his eyes and hung his head low to hide his emotions.

"Why am I back to life when Lora isn't? My memories are still here but Haze…" Jin tried to not let it get to him, but it was a difficult battle against himself. "What's my purpose now?"

"That's something you have to answer yourself."

Jin looked up to see who was speaking to him. It was none other than the Commandment of Selflessness.

"I don't understand."

"Not everyone or everything can be handed to you if you are trying to seek answers," Alvis then coolly sat next to Jin and looked at their fellow Commandments. "If you need something to be answered, then it's best to find out yourself, especially if it pertains to you."

Jin had no response.

"Time is all it takes to find out what you need to seek."

"Maybe the answer will come to me eventually. Not immediately."

"Correct," Alvis stood up. Before walking away, he had one more thing to say to him. "All answers will be shown to you in time. There is a reason for everything."

" _A reason… for everything? Then why?"_

* * *

" _There was a report of a stasis pod that appeared deep in the Starfall Basin," Vandham spoke to his best unit during the briefing at the barracks._

" _Is it possible that someone has survived this whole time?" An older woman answered yet had to be vigilant about the report._

" _We are uncertain," the blonde commander replied. "The team who apparently saw it could not get any closer due to the activity of tyrants in the area. However, as of now, it seems they have dispersed."_

" _How come they didn't go back to check if that's the case?" Another woman asked. "Seems weird that we ended up doing this?"_

" _Well, they are on another mission right now. It's inconvenient that everyone except you guys are occupied on a task."_

" _Yeah, talk about unlucky," a teenaged girl annoyingly said while rolling her eyes away._

" _Regardless, it would be the best if you four –"_

" _Don't forget Tatsu!"_

" _If you five investigate Starfall Basin and conclude whether the report was correct or not," he cleared his throat after being corrected by a nopon._

" _Well, let's get a move on," the young girl was ready to get it over with before noticing her leader acting a bit unusual. "Elma?"_

" _Starfall Basin…" she quietly muttered to herself as she closed her eyes. "It's like that dream. Could it be?"_

" _Are you okay, Elma?"_

" _Yes, Lin, I'm fine. Sorry if I worried you," Elma opened her eyes and gave Lin a reassuring smile. "Vandham, we'll take a look and see what we can find."_

" _I knew I can rely on you guys," he laughed and crossed his arms in joy._

* * *

In hoping to discover whether the report was truthful or not, Vandham sent Elma, Lin, Irina, and Gwin to search for the potential pod. As they reached the pond with their Skells, they set up a station for them to return to should they find anything.

"We made it to Starfall Basin," Elma radioed Vandham to provide updates. "It seems that nothing here is out of the ordinary. We'll continue to search for the possible cryogenic stasis pod reported to us."

"Copy that," the gruff Commander responded. "As soon as you locate it, isolate it. Once you do, carry it back to the lab here."

"Understood commander," Elma ended the call and gathered her comrades. "To make an efficient and thorough search, we must split into two groups since this area isn't too large. Lin and I will go to the back end of the basin while you two search up front."

"I hope we can find someone in that pod," Irina said while crossing her arms. "More people we can rescue, the better for our survival."

"There's only one way to find out," Gwin optimistically answered to which Irina chuckled in amusement.

"Search through every corner and hidden path. You may not know where the stasis pod is, but it can be anywhere," Elma ordered her group to proceed to action.

"Linly and Elma can find pod fast so Tatsu be safe from monsters," the Nopon jumped up and down while being a bit worried about his surroundings.

"If we do find someone inside a pod, they'll be _very_ hungry and need something to munch on. I'll give them a giant potato to snack on," Lin made a snide remark in response to Tatsu.

"T-Tatsu not like a potato," he stammered. "Linly trying to feed me to a hungry mim. Very cruel and mean!"

"What should I season you first?" She began to muse at the idea.

"Now not the time to make me delicious! Tatsu only help find stasis pod."

"Alright you two, let's hurry and find the stasis pod," Elma spoke in a relaxing tone yet found it amusing to see Lin and Tatsu talk to each other like children.

* * *

Both groups did the best they could to search for the stasis pod at every part of the area. Despite all that, they could not find it. To their disappointment, it hurt to think that the report was not accurate. After searching for a reasonable amount of time, Elma ordered Irina and Gwin to return to the station. From theirs expressions, no one was content with the result.

"Damn," Irina cursed. "I can't believe the report was bogus."

"I'm sure it might have been some misunderstanding with what was reported," Gwin tried to explain to lessen the outcome yet no one believed what he said.

"Something just doesn't add up" Elma retraced her steps by contemplating everything leading up to the mission. "It wouldn't make sense if the report sent ended up being false."

"Why would anyone lie about potential human life existing here?" The blond woman wondered.

"Now I think about it, do we know who sent the report?" Lin asked the group as they tried to piece together what was going on.

"Apparently, it was sent by one of Reclaimers," Elma answered. "I know no one in that division would lie to Vandham and Nagi with this report."

"If that's the case, then what did they actually find?"

Suddenly, Elma had an uneasy feeling that something was approaching them. _"What's this feeling? Is it a Tyrant? No… it's something else. Something much more daunting than that."_

"Watch out!" She shouted as she grabbed Lin and Tatsu while Gwin pushed Irina out from the force that came crashing down nearly in front of their station. The impact caused many sizes of rubble to scatter across the area. The inhabitants: Adseculas, Blattas, and the Potamuses were alarmed by the threat and ran away because they felt a powerful presence.

"Is everyone okay?" Elma called out to her teammates.

"I'm ok. Thanks for saving me," Lin gratefully said.

"…"

"Elma, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Irina answered.

"Nothing serious. Gwin?" Elma called.

"I'm here!" He shouted before standing up and cleaning off the dust on his uniform. "You're not hurt, Irina?"

"It's going to take more than a push to hurt me," she gave him a smile to alleviate his worries.

"Hey, where's Tatsu?" Lin wondered where the Nopon went. Thankfully, he was in front of the group, but something was off about him. He stood still and was shaking uncontrollably. "Tatsu, what's wrong?"

"… … …"

The group then faced where Tatsu was looking at. In front of them, they saw a human figure. They felt a sharp feeling of fear through their bodies. This individual had razor-sharp claws on his mechanical knuckles. His entire body overed in a machine body. They were more fearful when the clear image of the human was revealed.

"Well, well, well, after warming up against some ugly beasts, I get a little bonus round for myself," Mumkhar said calmly yet his maniacal presence scared the team from moving. "I thought I heard some people from where I was at. Turns out, I was right."

"Elma, what's going on over there?" Vandham radioed to his unit. After hearing silence for longer than usual, he franctically called again. "Elma? Elma?! Are you okay?!"

"Commander, send in backup to Starfall Basin immediately. There's a human here, but something is off about him. It's like… he isn't from here."


End file.
